Stargate: Those Left Behind
by Neodammarung the Destroyer
Summary: Aiden Ford is an adventurer, and with Atlantis gone, the last true defender of the meek in Pegasus. Through his actions, he's changed the fate of worlds. But now something new is coming. Something that has been waiting for it's day for three-thousand years...and if he can't stop it, he'll never see Earth again. X-over & Sequel to Same Side by Era Yachi
1. Prologue

Prologue

A great man once told me that the universe is full of stories, and from time to time they permit themselves to be told.

We all have a story in us, waiting to be told. We write it with our actions, and it lives on, shaping the great stories yet to come, long after we have gone to dust.

My name is Aiden Ford. This is my story.

This is the story of my redemption.

This is the story of how I came home.

This is the story of those left behind.


	2. Chapter 1: Unexpected Company

**STARGATE:**

**THOSE LEFT BEHIND**

Chapter 1: Unexpected Company

It was quiet on the _Ascension_. By the ship's clock, we had forty-five minutes before we reached our destination. Being unable to sleep in any case, I got up and dressed. I only had a few things in my wardrobe. Some were clothes I had acquired from markets all over the Pegasus Galaxy. Others had been made for me out of gratitude. I swept through them and grabbed my long grey greatcoat, a gift from the Travelers for my help. It seemed like everything besides the coat had patches. That was the way things were with clothes that belonged to someone with a lifestyle like mine. They started out looking good and then received vigorous combat scarring.

Eventually I emerged, fully dressed in my 'captain's uniform' and made my way to the bridge, passing through the sporadic design work or my ship which switched back and forth between the cleanliness and sophistication of Ancient technology and the big, industrial designs of the Travelers which looked a bit like the inside of a chemical processing plant.

When I finally reached the bridge, it was empty. My crew of nine was all asleep or busy elsewhere. This, however, was not true of Elizabeth, the tenth member of the crew who never slept and who was technically everywhere on the ship. She materialized in her holographic form next to the Captain's Chair as I sat down.

"Good morning, Aiden." she said politely; I grunted.

"There's no morning in hyperspace, or in normal space." I grumbled. She raised an eyebrow.

"Bad night?" she inquired casually. I settled into the chair more and gazed blindly out of the main viewport. The streaming white lights of hyperspace filled the window.

"Couldn't sleep." I muttered blearily.

"You know, I'm interested in who decided to crash a ship on New Athos too." she said with a hint of reproach after a long silence. I shifted in my seat.

"I don't really care who they are. All I care about is whether or not they're a threat. And given the message that Halling sent I'm beginning to suspect that we're dealing with a pretty big threat." I answered. I knew my lack of sleep had made me irritable, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Six hours ago I had received a message from Halling, the new leader of the Athosians, reporting the crash of an enormous ship on New Athos. He had wisely kept everyone away from the impact site, but he had called back shortly afterwards to report that there were explosions coming from where the spacecraft had landed, as well as the troubling smoke rising from the immense rift it had made in the surrounding pine forest and landscape it had made when it had come down after appearing suddenly in the sky.

New Athos was one of several worlds I had placed under my personal protection ever since I had been gifted the _Ascension_ by the Travelers, including Childhood's End, Brennann, Estrella and Xaer among several others. This being the case, I had immediately set course for New Athos to investigate. And now here we were, almost there, with little or no information on what we'd be facing.

"Do we know anything about this mystery ship?" I inquired. Elizabeth gave me an unconcerned look.

"Apart from that it's a mystery? No, not a thing. The description that Halling gave was confused at best, given that he saw it as it was roaring through the sky as a fireball. I tried to render an example but there was just too little data." She shrugged her illusory shoulders. "I suppose we'll find out what we're dealing with when we get there, which shouldn't be much more than thirty minutes from now." There was another long pause. Finally, with a tentative tone to her voice, she tried to continue.

"You know, last time we visited the Yard, I spoke with Ladon." I turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I talked with him about restoring the ZPM Manufactory." she continued. I sat up a little straighter and gave her a stern look.

"Really?" I said. She looked up at the ceiling in apparent exasperation at my annoyance with her breaking of the chain of command in such a way and sighed.

"Yes, Ford, I did. I tried to strike a deal with him about getting a ZPM for our ship when the plant was operational again." she said. I narrowed my eyes.

"And what did he say?" I asked patiently, though she must've heard the growing anger in my voice. She knew I disliked the Coalition in general and the Genii in particular, even though I had a working business relationship with them. She could also tell I was angry with her over her acting without my permission.

"Well he said we had nothing that would convince them to part with even one ZPM. So, given that we've used up the supply of ZPMs we got from the Quindosim Brotherhood at Castle Brennann by giving them to Childhood's End and the Travelers, we have exactly zero chance of getting any more." she finished. I looked away.

"So?" I grunted. Elizabeth gave me a frustrated look.

"I would think you would've wanted one in case you ever decide to go back-" she started. I spun the chair to face her and held up a finger in warning.

"Don't." I said in a dead flat monotone of warning, "Just don't." She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow of her own in disapproval, but held her non-existent tongue. I turned back to the front window and silence fell again over the bridge.

"Well I suppose it doesn't matter. Even if we had one, I'd need to modify the hyperdrive and various other systems for the journey." she said quietly. When she neglected to say more, I let it go. I didn't want to talk about that. Not now. Not yet. But I still felt I should say something. Finally, I gave in. You couldn't stay angry at the one person who understood you for long.

"Thanks for trying." I said quietly. She nodded in understanding.

When we hit the fifteen minute mark, Elizabeth sounded the wake-up alarm, a brief two-note klaxon. It took my nine-person crew about eight minutes to ready themselves and a further two to gather from their various corners of the ship. While we waited, I decided to try and mend the atmosphere and turned back Elizabeth's hologram which had begun to wander around the bridge.

"Larrin called the other day." I said. Elizabeth turned back to look at me as she stood by the internal security console.

"She wants me to name some of the new Traveler ships and rename some of the old, restored Grondian ones. Apparently all the new captains want my 'blessing', as it were, given how much I've done for them." I said nonchalantly. This earned me an amused grin.

"You have a fan-base! How surprising!" she chuckled, her smile widening. I must've blushed because she burst out laughing.

"She's also offered me some good deals for the locations of those Ancient ships we found." I went on. The laughter stopped. Now it was Elizabeth's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"You want to sell the _Hydra_, the _Delphi_ and the _Agamemnon_ to her? Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked incredulously. I chuckled.

"What am I going to do with them? It's not like I have the means to put them back together. And the Travelers can use every ship they can lay hands on." There was a pause while Elizabeth looked down as if in thought. It was somewhat of an illusion for my sake though, given that she had all the computing power of the _Ascension_ at her disposal.

"What did she offer you?" she asked finally. I shrugged.

"A heaping of supplies, some more refitting work on all those smaller ships we have in the bays, and fuel for our maneuvering thrusters among many other things, all of them important. In case you haven't noticed we've gotten ourselves pretty beat up over the past five years. Actually you'd probably know better than me since your run most of this ship at all times." I retorted. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, in spite of the good work we've been doing keeping this ship together and patching her up, we need to hit a dry-dock sooner or later or this thing's going to be all patches and no ship, if you catch my drift?" I said exasperatedly, "And it just so happens that those three ships are enough to cover the bartering cost of a refit on New Grondia as far as Larrin is concerned."

Elizabeth gave me a concerned look. "Are you sure you want to sell those other ships? I ask because given the general patchwork nature of the ship we're already flying around in, I thought you might just prefer something a little more…solid." she said. I gave her a stern look.

"I'm not giving up my ship. It's my ship and she's more reliable and powerful than anything else out there. She just needs a refit." I said with all the authority I could muster. Elizabeth looked me up and down, and then shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. At this point the bridge doors slid open and the crew began to wander in and take their seats or standing positions. I rotated my chair around to watch them. Lennann, Arorree, Shaal' Maia, Harrick, Illidin, Thoren Axton, Jeremiah, Roland of Mordecai and Kiryk, most of all Kiryk, who'd saved my life on half a dozen counts. They were my crew and each of them had chosen to follow me in my war against the Wraith, either because they felt they owed me a debt or of their own free will. Together we'd set out to give the Wraith a solid fight, defending worlds from being culled and helping those factions who would fight them as we did.

Of course that had been when we started out. Now of course the Wraith were starting to pull together, making it harder to find a battle where victory was assured. These days, Hive Ships only traveled in groups of four or more, plus support cruisers, making any direct confrontation potentially fatal. And with the other aforementioned groups like the Travelers and the Coalition preparing their own major offensives, things were looking to be escalating all out of whack. These days we generally stuck to the small group of worlds we had sworn to defend from the outset, including Xaer, Childhood's End, Mordecai, Napali-Nui and a few others. All of us had worlds we cared for among those we protected.

For me, it was New Athos. They had put their trust in the Atlantis Expedition, which Elizabeth and I had once been a part of. Then Atlantis had abandoned the Pegasus Galaxy and left everyone it had previously placed under its protection to fend for their selves. That's not to say the Athosians couldn't stand up for themselves. They were a tough bunch. You had to be tough in a galaxy like the Pegasus where any moment could bring death from the skies. But while they could put up a decent fight, they were no match for the technology, organization, strength and sheer numbers of the Wraith, which is where we came in. In just a few months most of the small Wraith factions had learned that it was too much trouble to come after planets we protected. Now of course it was getting difficult. Many human populations had been totally destroyed and the solidifying larger Wraith factions were growing ever more desperate, basically descending to the level of fighting over scraps. Any human population was an adequate target.

So in short, the galaxy had changed a lot since I had first arrived. It was no longer a game of hit-and-run. Now it was a matter of hunkering down and defending our assets until the real fireworks started, which was why this new ship was such a worrying thing. If a new player joined the game, then I had no idea which way events would go next. They might upset the balance of galactic power...again.

"Preparing to drop out of hyperspace…" Arorree announced as she took the pilot's chair behind mine and slid it up its angled rail-ramp to the control consoles arranged in a semi-circle at the top overlooking the bridge. The _Ascension_ was a hybrid Ancient/Grondian/Traveler vessel, the only one of its kind so far, designed to be the most powerful, agile and durable ship it was possible to build with such technologies. It could hold itself in a fight with two Hive Ships, possibly three, which was good, given how often we got into fights. But it had the added bonus of not having the bridge of the ship be on the outside of the craft like Ancient vessels.

The room's main 'window' was really just a wraparound and incredibly detailed view-screen taking in data from the sensors and rendering it into ultra HD-quality images. It was all the benefits of a window and screen combined, without any actual window. Unfortunately, the ship's designer had taken a cue from the Ancient Aurora-class cruiser and designed the bridge interior in a similar fashion. This meant that Arorree had sit in the middle of the room on a chair that slid up and down an angled rail whenever she got in and out of it. This also meant that most of the time she was above everyone else like some loony tyrant on a throne, surrounded by semi-solid holographic consoles and controls with just a few meters between her and the bridge's ceiling.

As for me, I sat in front of her at the base of the platform with two other chairs on either side. This resulted in my feeling like Captain Picard from The Next Generation upon sitting down. On one occasion I was tempted to say 'Make it so, number one.', but refrained from doing so given that no one, except maybe Elizabeth, would know what I was talking about. From my left, Harrick, my weapon's officer, had taken his seat and powered up his own console.

"Shall I raise shields as we exit?" he asked, turning to me. I waved my hand in dismissal.

"I don't think we have to worry about a giant flaming wreck on the surface shooting at us." I answered. The ship shuddered briefly and the white lights of hyperspace in front of me vanished as real space rushed up to fill the main view-screen.

"Dr. Weir," I said to Elizabeth, using her old name, "run a full sensor sweep of the planet's surface." Her holographic self, which had moved back to the side of my chair, nodded in response and closed her eyes. On the main 'window' the approaching blue green sphere of New Athos was engulfed by a grid of green lines which pulsed and flickered, each square rapidly lighting up and dimming as it was analyzed. Finally, on the South-Western continent, one square turned red and peeled itself away, grew larger and formed itself into a little window on the side of the screen. It showed a magnified view of the landscape below, which was almost all forest...except for the small red circle marking the Athosian settlement and the enormous black trench of scorched earth about five miles East of it. The trench terminated twelve miles South-West of the settlement, running diagonally across the landscape as presented. At its end was an enormous plume of thick black oily smoke.

"Ford, I'm getting some odd readings from that smoking crater." Elizabeth said. There was a worried tone in her voice that set me to worrying as well.

"Like?" I asked curiously. The plume of smoke was suddenly filled and surrounded by little blue dots, most of which were moving slightly, some alone and some in groups.

"Those are radiation signatures, low-level and mostly benign. What's strange is that they're moving..." she said. As she spoke, two of the small groups of dots came together. Instantly two dots in one of the groups turned red and faded out. Then the remaining dots clustered together, mingling and dancing around each other. Seconds later, three more dots faded out.

"Okay, now what's going on?" I asked. Elizabeth frowned.

"It appears they're eliminating each other." she said, the confusion as clear in her voice as it had been in mine, "I'm trying to focus in on the crash site further but those radiation signatures are sticking primarily to the foliage and tree cover. I can't see through it. Not from this distance at any rate."

When three more dots turned red and vanished, I rose from my chair in frustration.

"Okay, enough of this." I said, turning to the rest of my crew, "Kiryk, Thoren, Lennann, you're with me. I'm taking one of the Jumpers down to the surface. Grab something from the armory and meet me down in Bay 12." I said in my Captain's Voice, one which I had honed over the years into a tone that brooked no disobeying. Elizabeth, however, wasn't happy.

"Is this a wise move Ford? I could bring us in closer and try to adjust the focus of the scanners." she suggested. I shook my head and turned to leave.

"No. I want to see this for myself. And if this is a threat, I want to know for sure."


	3. Chapter 2: Worlds Collide

Chapter 2: Worlds Collide

It took me ten minutes of purposeful striding through the corridors of the Ascension for me to reach my room, suit up and collect my things. I emerged looking like a one-man S.W.A.T. team. I had kept the great-coat, but had added some fingerless gloves whose knuckles were equipped with small hooks. In addition this, I had retrieved my beret, which was dyed black and lined with scraps of fabric from my old Atlantis Expedition baseball cap. I had also donned some Traveler combat gear, which really did resemble S.W.A.T. gear, plus some strap-on polymer armor whose pieces looked like plastic but were twenty times more resistant than Kevlar to projectiles and capable of dispersing fire from most energy weapons.

Of course they weren't totally immune to damage, as the pockmarks, burns and scratches would attest. That was something I'd need to get replaced. I had strapped on my pulse pistol, one of the gifts I had received from the Hidden over the years, and checked to make sure it was charged. Fortunately it was, though the battery was showing some wear. I added it to the growing mental list of things to replace and went to meet my 'away team'.

When I had first met Kiryk, he had been wearing leather, rawhide and strips of Wraith clothing, in short, garments made in a hurry. When the Wraith make you a Runner, they don't give you time to dress well. Now, of course he was somewhat better attired in a lighter version of my own combat gear, plus some goggles and his arm-devices.

Kiryk's arm was something of a marvel to me. When I had rescued him from the Wraith, it had been adorned with only the golden band on his upper arm that gave him the ability of short-range teleportation. Then I had introduced him to the Hidden, who had given him an upgrade, which included a large bracer on the same arm that could form a sort of buckler with a variety of functions. They had also given him a collapsible compound bow and a compact crossbow with explosive, poison and electrical payload tips to go with the short sword he had started out with. He was my closest friend apart from Elizabeth and a master assassin with a burning hatred for the Wraith.

Next to him was Thoren Axton. Survivor of a culling in which I had curtailed half-way through, Thoren was what might be considered a combat engineer. He was of an average build with black hair and a dozen facial scars from his hand-to-hand encounters with the Wraith. He had studied the technology of the Ancients thoroughly and, with Elizabeth's help, managed to serve the purpose Rodney McKay had when I worked with him as part of the Atlantis Expedition, minus the acerbic attitude and unending sarcasm. He was dressed in scarred and slightly more tattered combat gear, also of Traveler design. His damaged uniform demonstrated another way he was different from Rodney: he enjoyed a good fight. He was carrying his hybrid Grondian/Traveler-designed tablet computer. It was about the size and thickness of a small book or four PDAs, a step above the old tablets I had used when part of Atlantis. It could manipulate most Ancient tech and provided Elizabeth with a platform from which to assist us.

Last of all was Lennann. She had been my guide to the Pegasus galaxy on many missions and practiced a form of _escrima_, which for the uninitiated is a form of martial arts using two sticks, invented in the Philippines, at least on Earth. Lennann's people, who had been all but wiped out before I met them, had adapted their version of the combat style to counter the superior speed and strength of their Wraith opponents. As for Lennann herself, she was of about average height and looked rather…butch I suppose is the only word that fits. She was thin and fast and agile. She had a six-pack that would make most average people jealous. She also had short brown hair and green eyes. And she spoke just about every language in the Pegasus Galaxy. She wasn't half bad at hunting and tracking either.

They were standing together next to the lowered rear ramp of the Ancient Puddle-Jumper that I had acquired on my travels a couple years back and had since been using as a shuttle for getting to and from nearby planets and my ship. Personally I loathed the craft's round, cylindrical design, particularly the flat unidirectional view afforded the pilot by the window on the front. Without the technology inside to help in steering, it was the most unwieldy craft you could imagine. But in spite of that it made a good stealth dropship and had served to rescue me and mine from a number of sticky situations. And I was the only one who could fly it, apart from Jeremiah.

As I approached across the expansive flight deck of Bay 12, my 'away team' was bent together in anxious conclave, which was disrupted when Lennann saw me. They turned to face me.

"Captain Ford." Lennann said, calling me by my rank. Once again I was reminded of Teyla when she had first joined the Atlantis Expedition. She had always referred to me and the rest of the team by our ranks when in an official situation, and sometimes even when we weren't. Lennann was a bit more carefree about the whole rank issue, given that technically we were a band of vigilantes, but often called me 'Captain Ford' when she thought we were heading into danger.

"Lennann." I said casually. I looked over at Kiryk and Thoren. They were both silent and stony-faced.

"Are you sure going down to investigate is a wise move?" Kiryk said after an awkward pause. I laughed. It must've surprised them because I saw Lennann flinch and Thoren wince.

"Kiryk, when is anything we do ever wise? We've gone up against Wraith with three times our firepower. We've bargained with the Genii. I think we can handle a few mysterious energy signatures." I said merrily.

"Captain, I'm not sure we should intervene. From what Dr. Weir showed us, it seems as though whatever these things are, they are engaged in battle with one another. If we go down without any intelligence, we risk being caught in the crossfire between two forces, both equally unknown." Thoren said. He looked concerned. That moderated my ego somewhat.

"You raise a fair point, but if we stay up here forever we'll never find out exactly what's going on." I replied, adopting a more conciliatory tone. Kiryk raised his eyebrows and gave me a look that said 'Are you sure this is a good idea?'

I sighed.

"Look, let me say it like this: I've spent a lot of time in this galaxy exploring the unknown and looking for trouble. When I got this ship I stopped doing that. I haven't looked into the face of a great mystery and laughed for quite a while because I had people to defend. "I said, looking at them each in turn, "But now a mystery's come and knocked down our front door. When that happens, it can only mean trouble. It might be an adventure, but as far as we're concerned, it's a potential threat to our allies. And we swore to deal with any and all threats when we took New Athos under our wing."

My three companions each nodded slowly. I nodded back.

"Right, so this is not a scientific investigation. It's reconnaissance to ensure that the Athosians are not under threat." I said firmly. I watched them. One by one they relaxed as my argument won out.

"So, are we ready?" I asked after a sufficient pause. Kiryk answered for all of them.

"We stand with you." he said gruffly.

"Excellent. Let's get going then, before there's nothing left to assess." I replied. I marched up the ramp and into the ship, adjusting my beret. They followed and took their seats, Thoren and Lennann positioning themselves in the rear seats of the cockpit and Kiryk taking the co-pilot's chair next to me. As I laid my hands on the crystalline flight control panels and began using the neural interface to power up the systems I looked over my shoulder to Thoren, who had taken out his tablet computer and begun to manipulate its holographic touch controls.

"Is Dr. Weir in touch?" I asked him. He tapped a few more buttons on the blue-tinted screen and then nodded. I accessed the ship communications with the N.I. and opened a channel to Elizabeth.

"Dr. Weir, we're on our way down. Please feel free to inform us of any changes in the situation you can detect from orbit. If nothing goes wrong, we'll be on the ground with an eye on things in no time.

"Understood. I've piggybacked an interface through the Jumper to Thoren's tablet so I can get a detailed picture of what's going on." her voice replied over the craft's internal intercom.

"Just like the Quindosim run, eh?" I answered.

"If you like." she said in reply. I manipulated the controls further and raised the rear ramp. Upon hearing it close with a clank and a hiss, I extended the drive pods that propelled the Jumper and initiated take off.

"You are clear for launch." Elizabeth said. With that, the hangar's external bulkhead doors slid apart and we were separated from the space beyond by nothing more than a solids-only permeable force-field.

"Roger, we are away." I replied sarcastically. Elizabeth never used military jargon except when it was vital or when she felt like teasing me a little. It was a very informal ship I ran.

With a single thought, my will flowed through the controls of the Jumper and propelled my team and me into the space surrounding New Athos. As I banked and rolled towards the blue-green ball of the planet, I pulled up the images that Elizabeth had shown us on the bridge of the _Ascension_ on the Puddle-Jumper's holographic display. Once I had triangulated the position of the crash site in relation to my current position, I simply thought my way through the rest. Within a minute, we were descending gently through the atmosphere at speeds that, were it not for the inertial dampeners, have turned all four of us to paste. I felt a certain excitement I hadn't felt in a long while. It had been a long time since I had had to deal with something outside the realm of the known. Generally, in my time as 'Captain Ford', I had tried to maintain a community of defended worlds, which left little or no time for exploring.

The thrill of adventure nearly distracted me from my flight and I recovered just in time to ensure that our descent was curtailed as we completed our re-entry. As we began to soar across the sky, which was growing dim with the onset of twilight, I smoothed out our flight path and brought us to bear on the pillar of smoke that dominated the nearer horizon. I looked back over my shoulder at Thoren once again.

"Send a message to Halling. Tell him and his people to remain calm. We're approaching the crash site. I'm going to activate our cloak." I said. He adjusted his hold on the tablet-computer, nodding in acknowledgement. I turned my gaze to the approaching black cloud and examined the map of dots superimposed over it by the holographic screen, pausing briefly to exert enough will to activate the Jumper's light-bending stealth camouflage and decrease our speed. Kiryk leaned over a little to try and see whatever I might be seeing.

"Anything?" he inquired. I shook my head. If the map was right we should be right in amongst the radiation sources, but I couldn't see anything. We were about half a mile from the crash site and I could see the shattered hulk of the alien ship. It seemed such a mess that I could see why Elizabeth would have trouble making a model of it. Pits where chunks of hull had impacted after breaking off in flight littered the landscape in the distance. I reopened the channel to Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, tell me, did this thing come through the atmosphere? Because I'm looking at it right now and it seems to me-"I started, before Elizabeth cut me off.

"I see what you mean. The scorch marks don't look like they were caused by atmospheric entry. The impact site's also a lot smaller than it should be." she said.

"You're saying this thing made too small a crater?"

"What, a ship this size? Of course! The sheer mass, coupled with the velocity of atmospheric entry should have blasted this valley to rubble and sticks, no matter how much energy it shed due to a gradual angle of descent. And that's another thing. The trench this thing dug is too short. It's almost as if this thing just appeared inside the atmosphere itself before crashing."

"Is that even possible?" I asked.

"Theoretically yes, but exiting hyperspace in an atmosphere would require a great deal of compensation for a variety of factors with virtually no room for error. Exit opposite the planet's rotational direction without the space to slow down and you crash into the onrushing mountains. Calculate wrong exit coordinates and you end up exploding into real-space inside the planet. And you have to take gravity and atmospheric conditions into-"she explained before I cut her off.

"I get it, it's real difficult. And I guess it's pretty clear these guys forgot to carry the two." I stated. There was a 'humph' of mild amusement mixed with a smidgen of disapproval from the intercom. I grinned. I brought the Jumper to a hovering halt. A group of dots nearby on the map was closing in on another group. I looked around the area below us. Nothing but pine trees and some redwoods. There was nowhere to land, and I didn't fancy landing in the blasted waste around the crash site before hiking into the woods to get a decent look.

It was at that point that an explosion rocked the forest to the left of our ship. A plume of fire billowed upwards and four trees collapsed with creaking groans ending in heavy crashes. It took an effort to restrain myself from going in to investigate and instead checked the map. Two dots were dancing around each other where the explosion had occurred, but were moving steadily away. Outside, two more trees collapsed as I watched them move.

An idea struck me. Carefully, I shifted the Jumper over to hover above the site of the fireball and used the underside sensors to examine it. The trees had been totally removed, and a rough crater remained where they had been. I looked closely.

"You can't seriously expect to land there." Lennann said, seeing what I was looking at.

"Yep." I replied. Slowly, I eased the Ancient craft down until it was pressing the base of the crater. With one final thought, I disengaged the drive pods and completed the landing. There was a shifting feeling as the Jumper sank slightly into the violently excavated earth. I opened the rear hatch and disengaged from the controls, then rose and turned to face my crew.

"Well we haven't got all day." I said impatiently. Kiryk gave me that 'You'd better know what you're doing' look people give you when you've just done something that could easily end in total disaster. I rolled my eyes and sauntered out into the wilderness outside. Behind me, left with little choice, Thoren, Lennann and Kiryk rose and prepared themselves.

As they unslung their equipment and/or weapons, I took a moment to look around. The trees had lengthening shadows and it was mildly chilly. The soft ground around the crater was covered in fallen leaves revealing it was autumn on New Athos. That's something they never go into in science fiction. Every planet has a different length of year, different seasons, a different day-night cycle, hell, even different air pressure and gravity. Luckily the difference is often so small as to be unnoticeable and inconsequential.

There was another explosion off in the distance and the clang of metal slamming into metal. There was a crack and crash signaling the fall of another big pine. I ducked down into the shadow of a redwood and beckoned to my team. Lennann had unslung her gun, an advanced HE-round spitting assault rifle developed by the Genii. Kiryk had his crossbow and my growing vision in the low light spied the gleam of an explosive payload on the tip of the bolt slotted into place in the weapon's receptacle. One by one, crouching and walking slowly, they took positions behind the nearby trees relative to the direction the explosions were coming from. I turned to Thoren and whispered as loudly as I could.

"Any of those dots heading our way?" I asked in what was basically a hoarse voice. The thick-chinned, dark-haired man shook his head after a brief look at the tablet which was hanging on a strap over his shoulder while he cradled it with his arm, at the same time holding his Traveler Pulse-SMG in his other hand holding it pointing barrel-up with the stock resting on the shoulder opposite the strap. Then he paused.

"Wait a minute." he said in the same hoarse whisper I had used, "Three of them, coming from the west." He pointed to his right as he said it and held up the tablet briefly for me to see. There were indeed three blue dots bearing down on us.

"Alright, shift position and be ready to retreat if necessary. Remember, like I said we're here to-"I started to whisper back when I felt the ground tremble. Then it began to shake, as if something enormous were running towards us.

"_Move!_" I hissed hurriedly. Together we change our positions so our backs were to the West with trees in between them and whatever was making the ground tremble as it came on. Silently, I drew my pistol and congratulated myself for remembering to leave the Jumper cloaked. The earthshaking footsteps continued to approach, now joined by a heavy clanking sound as they drew closer. I briefly entertained an insane thought that it was a bunch of Imperial AT-STs that had somehow escaped from the set of _Return of the Jedi_. I had to suppress a light chuckle, but a snort escaped as the image of one of them tripping over the cloaked Jumper crossed my mind. If the oncoming maker of earthshaking clanking noises had heard me, there was no sign of it. I peeked out from behind the tree I was using as cover.

What happened next occurred so fast that my jaw barely had time to drop. From out of the shadows of the trees to the West crashed a robot…a big, **big** robot. It must've been almost twenty-four feet tall and gleamed like silver in the growing sunset streaming through the trees. Its upper body was enormous, like a huge, super-sized set of football gear, or perhaps some kind of jetpack. It had two long arms that extended from the bulk, but also two smaller ones like vestigial limbs, except that they were more like oversized human arms, extending from its chest. It carried itself on long, powerful looking legs that ended in claws shaped like those of a velociraptor. As it rushed past, I saw that the upper body was fronted by a helm with a black reflective visor like that of a motorcyclist. It plunged past me and my team without even glancing our way and leapt into the air, the bulk of its upper body opening at the back slightly to release fiery plumes like jet engines as it rose off the ground, trying to gain height.

Then a pair of massive chain-like whips lashed across the artificially-made clearing and wrapped themselves around the robot's ankle. It was dragged down with a ground-shuddering crash as two more, very different-looking robots emerged from the trees after it. One was tall, bulky and grey all over, much more humanoid without the huge upper body of the first machine. Its head, or helmet or whatever it was, though, had two fins on either side like a hammerhead shark. Its eyes, if that was what they were, burned red with what I couldn't think of as anything but hate. The two whip-like appendages protruded from its right arm and it was using them to drag the other machine towards it.

Its comrade, which was a bit shorter and red and the most human of the three, emerged from the trees like its partner at a run, charging forward, its face a blank mask save for the six red lights that lined either side of its visage vertically in columns of three. From its waist flapped rattling red strips of conjoined metal plates that look almost like cloth sashes as it sped through the growing twilight. It flicked its hand in a stretching gesture and something relatively small and very lethal-looking emerged from its wrist and assembled itself in its grasp, looking something like an ornate sub-machine gun with a bayonet. As it did, the silver warrior rolled over, flicked its forearm out and assembled a weapon of its own, a long-handled sword with a complicated, advanced-looking hilt that gave issue to a metal bar projecting a one-edged blade of red and yellow energy that looked like molten magma.

As the red robot leaped forward and pulled back its arm to deliver a vicious stab with its bayonet, the silver bot swept up its sword with one of its long arms. The red bot tried to turn aside in mid-fall, but it was too late. There was a hiss and crackle and a clang of metal as it fell onto the out-stretched blade, which punched right through its chest and out the other side. It hung there for a moment, and then apparently went dead, its six red eyes dimming and going out.

All the time, the robots were making shrieking, howling, metallic noises, like a living synthesizer being tortured to death. It might've been language, but I couldn't tell. The silver bot brought its free foot up to kick the unfortunate red one off its sword and was dragged forward again as the big grey one bellowed in fury. Its arm not occupied by the whips was extending a weapon of its own, a thing like an enormous sawed-off shotgun. The silver bot was trying to struggle free and get its red opponent off its blade, presumably so it could use it to cut the whips. Each time it tried however, the gray behemoth gave another yank, unbalancing it and scraping it along the ground.

I had no idea what to do. The thought of GIANT ROBOTS was occupying my brain like an elephant in a broom closet. I was amazed I hadn't soiled myself. Probably anyone else who hadn't seen the crazy stuff I had would have done just that. I glanced over to where Kiryk was and saw that the look on his face was probably a mirror to the one gracing my own, one of shock and terror.

The silver bot howled with frustration as it was dragged into range just as the towering grey behemoth took aim with its gun. There was a flash of blue-white light, a sound somewhere between the noise of a high-tension steel wire being smacked with a stick and the boom of a tank-shot…and the head of the gray robot exploded into shrapnel and bits of machinery. From the woods to the north-west emerged yet another robot. This one was slightly taller than the silver one and covered in ribbed metal armor the color of copper, with eyes of pure blue-white. It was carrying an enormous rifle with glowing blue highlights which it kept trained on the gray robot's corpse which fell to its knees and leaned backwards, held up by its own position.

The silver robot, finally able to catch its balance, used its free foot to kick its dead foe off its sword, which it then swiped at the chain-whips which were still wrapped around its other leg. The metal cables parted with a *SHRACK*, glowing red hot at the point of contact. While the silver bot struggled to its feet, the copper-colored one kept its gun trained on the grey machine's carcass, as if expecting it to spring back to life.

The silver bot was now back on its feet and looking around, or at least appeared to be. The black visor it was equipped with obscured its face, if it even had one. I ducked back behind the tree that had been concealing me as its gaze swept over me. The copper machine made more sounds like a DLS connection in a meat grinder. When its silver companion failed to respond, it turned its human-like face to look at it and repeated itself. Finally the silver machine answered in the same distorted language. Together, they began to exit the clearing moving east. I waved at my team to hold their positions and not fire as the two metal behemoths stalked past us, clanking with every step. As they began to move out of sight amongst the trees, I turned to Thoren, who was shaking and sweating in a way I had never seen him before.

When the clanking had died to a distant thud, I waved at him. It took him a couple seconds to realize that I was trying to get his attention before he gave it to me. With one hand, I pointed at his tablet and beckoned him over. He hurried from his hiding place, looking left and right. In the distance, I heard another explosion go off as he handed me the computer. Working quickly, I manipulated the holographic interface to open a visual channel to Elizabeth.

As her face materialized on the screen, yet another explosion erupted from the direction the pair of giants had gone in.

"Did you **see** that?!" I said hoarsely to her. Her face was plastered with an expression of awe.

"I did. I think we've just found our radiation sources." she answered.

"What, you mean those…things are being powered by nuclear energy?" I said. The full realization of what I'd just seen hadn't hit me yet. I realized I was in shock.

"No. Not nuclear. Whatever those things were, they're being powered by something I simply can't identify." Elizabeth answered. Her eyes assumed that far-away look she got when sifting through the computer world she occupied. Finally she refocused on me.

"I'm at a loss for what to do next. They're definitely not Ancient and they appear to be engaged in an internal conflict. We have no information to work with. I need time to go over the sensor readings this tablet acquired." Then her face assumed an expression of fear.

"We need to do something, fast. There's a large group of them moving through the forest towards the Athosian settlement." she said.

"Why would they do that? They can't possibly know the Athosians are there. And even if they did, why would they care?" I asked, fear now filling me as well. The Athosians could fight Wraith, but GIANT ROBOTS?! Not a chance.

"Maybe some of them are trying to escape the fighting. Their pattern of movement suggests a disorganized retreat." she postulated. I rubbed my face. The light was going red amidst the long shadows of the trees.

"Okay. Okay." I said, trying to calm myself, "Can you communicate with them. They obviously have some sort of language. Those noises they were making-". Elizabeth cut me off.

"-had a pattern, yes. That suggests some form of language. It's pretty clear they're autonomous. There's no signals of any kind being broadcast to them from any singular point which suggests they're under their own control. I am detecting short bursts of radio waves between some of them. Perhaps some form of combat communication like short-wave radio. I'm working on a lot of assumptions here, but maybe we could communicate with them." she said. Kiryk had been listening and chosen this point to insert his own opinion.

"That might be very unwise. We have no idea what their intentions are or what they are doing here. It's clear they are engaged in a struggle amongst themselves, this is true. But as for the reasons and their outlook towards us should we reveal ourselves, we have no idea what to expect. They may consider us to be pests for all you know." he inserted gruffly. I had to suppress a shudder. That last sentence had conjured the most unwelcome image of one of the enormous machines trying to squash me and my team like unruly cockroaches beneath its mighty armored feet.

"It's your call Ford. We need to prevent any of what's going on here from affecting the Athosians. They're our first priority. I can target them with drones or I can talk to them." Elizabeth finished. I looked back and forth between her image and Kiryk's gaze. I had sworn to protect Halling and his people with my own life…but it couldn't hurt to talk to them, right? Right?

After an internal struggle I was sure I would reflect deeply on later, I came to a decision. Halling couldn't handle GIANT ROBOTS but I could. And if it really turned out that they were out to kill us all, then at least I could comfort myself with the knowledge that I had made the effort to try and talk.

"Ok, let's try and talk with them." I said. Elizabeth smiled on her screen.

"I'll do my best. I've developed a data burst using Lantean coding styles and as much stuff from S.E.T.I. that I can remember. I'll try and get them to understand that and work my way up to English. I'll broadcast it using the _Ascension_'s short-range comms attuned to the frequency they seem to be using." she said. I gave her a confused look.

"When did you come up with that?" I asked, befuddled by this instantaneous helpfulness.

"The data burst? Three years ago. Just in case we ran into any races we hadn't encountered before, or for that matter, any the Ancients hadn't encountered. The transmission method took me about two seconds." she explained nonchalantly. I whistled quietly. There was a fresh fireball off in the distant forest.

"Thank you, Aiden." she remarked sarcastically, "I'll try and get them to move away from the village. I'll also tell Halling to prepare his people to move out fast if it comes to it."

She closed her eyes and assumed an expression of extreme focus for about five seconds before they snapped open again.

"Whoa, I'm detecting a massive surge in radio chatter..." she started to say before the earth shook nearby.

"I'm receiving a response from one of the largest clusters of signatures, projected straight at me…it's in perfect Lantean, written Lantean, mind you. It's a text message." she said. I could see excitement in her eyes which confused me.

"I'm transmitting an English database now." she continued, as the ground shook again. There was another crash of a falling tree to the south. Now thoroughly worried, I used the tablet interface to check the map I had been using. There was a quartet of blue dots moving in from the south. I quickly made another decision.

"Alright, enough of this hiding behind trees. We need to get back in the air-"I started to say, edging towards the Jumper when another dot appeared, moving very fast, straight towards us. It was at this point that I heard against all logic, the roar of jet engines approaching.

"Um, Elizabeth, they can't track our communications, right?" I asked worriedly, as the roar grew louder and louder.

"What is that?!" Lennann shouted. I almost chastised her for not whispering, before I followed her gaze upward to the hole in the trees we had come through and saw the enormous alien jet-craft coming straight down on us.

Time slowed as it hurtled towards us. I felt myself screaming 'MOVE!', but it sounded distant and far away, as if coming from underwater. And then the impossible happened. As it drew near, the jet changed shape. At first I thought it was disintegrating, but then I realized that its parts were moving, working in cohesion to change its shape from that of an aircraft to something else entirely.

When it hit the ground seconds after completing its jigsaw transformation, the jet was no longer an aircraft, but a twenty-foot tall mechanical warrior with glowing red eyes. It was the same basic shape as the grey giant had been, but had far more spikes on it and its hands were claws, massive claws, each finger a blade like a super-sized kitchen knife glowing blue on its edge. As it straightened up, its wrist sprouted a huge gun whose barrel glowed purple and white with what was clearly barely contained energy. I was tossed onto my back from the initial impact while Thoren was hurled away from me and the tablet, strap and all, flew from around his neck and landed in the dirt and fallen needles nearby. I looked up as the mechanical behemoth focused its eyes on us. The look it gave us was one I had seen before. It was the look a person gives an especially irritating bug right before they squash it.

It roared in a very human, yet mechanical voice and perfect English, "**DIE, FLESHLING!**", and brought its huge gun to bear on me. My hands had already flown to the holster of my pistol, my brain not realizing that it was a futile gesture. The weapon was deadly and had the firepower of two Traveler pulse pistols combined, but the most that would do in this situation, apart from making me feel better, would be to make it angrier. But my mind also realized I was on the ground, which seriously impaired my prospects of flight, leaving fight as my only option. Even that revelation came only from a struggle of will as it was taking all my courage not to freeze in terror at the sight of the giant's fury pointed in my direction.

Just as I ripped my weapon free of its holster there was an explosion that made the giant reel backwards. Flames spewed from a pockmark in its chest and I glanced to my left to see Kiryk trying to slot another explosive-tipped bolt into his crossbow. He saw my gaze and I nodded in thanks, and then swung my view back to the giant as it came at me again. In a feat of desperate marksmanship, I aimed for its eyes, hoping to blind it and dodge its charge. I squeezed the trigger as fast as I could. The weapon's normally echoing report sounded almost small next to the wrath of the oncoming metal goliath. The bolts of golden energy exploded off its carapace, leaving dents but no severe damage. It rushed at me, its claws outstretched to cut me to ribbons before it was thrown back again, this time by a hail of tracer rounds the size of my head which emerged inexplicably from the forest behind me.

The woods to the south, right behind me, disgorged four new robots. They leapt over us and charged at the grey titan.

"For Cybertron!" bellowed the one in the lead, and the others answered as it lunged forward and plunged the sword-like bayonet of the enormous rifle it was carrying into the gut of his foe.

"TILL ALL ARE ONE!" they roared and piled on behind him, bearing the shrieking gray giant to the ground where they tore and beat at it with their assorted melee weapons. Caught off guard by this display, I lay there against the roots of the tree I had fallen onto watched as they ripped and hacked and smashed the living hell out of their opponent. It was terrifying to watch, not just because it was GIANT ROBOTS that were doing it, but because they moved so fast. It wasn't like the slow, clunky animatronics back on Earth sometimes used for advertising and novelty. Within a matter of minutes, the four newcomers had reduced their foe to battered bits.

When their enemy had stopped moving, the leader of the other robots, or at least the one which had led the charge, rose up and turned to look at me. It was tall and quite menacing. It resembled, in general outline at least, a World War I soldier without his trench helmet. In one hand it carried a large rifle bolt-action styled rifle with an enormous blade slung beneath it. Then, to my everlasting surprise, it squatted down and squinted at me.

"Well, human, I know little of your species, but I believe a certain amount of thanks are in order." It said gruffly. Its voice carried a British accent, and I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with enough self-control not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. This comment earned the robot a smack around the ear from one of its companions.

"Hammerlock, this is a first contact situation. He's probably scared to death of us, if he can understand us at all." It said. The condescension of that comment struck something in me.

"Actually 'he' can understand you just fine. 'He' did send you his language after all. And 'he' can hear you too. So I'd watch my mouth if I were you." I said angrily, struggling to my feet. The insanity of the last twenty minutes was getting to me and I wasn't going to be reduced to a talking monkey by a giant robot. I was darkly smug to see the complex joints, wires and plates of the second speaker's face contort to express a certain amount of embarrassment. It made an attempt to clear its throat, though it was pretty obvious it had no throat, nor any need to clear it. That was weird and I wondered if Elizabeth had included human social habits with the package of lingual information she had sent.

"I apologize for my friend's somewhat rude behavior. Are you unhurt? And is it really necessary to point weapons?" it said. That question made me look over at Kiryk and Lennann, who both had their weapons trained on the enormous machines. I could see their eyes flicking back and forth between the four, trying to figure out how to take out all of them at once if it became an issue. I looked back to the robot that had spoken first, then to the second. I took the time take in its design. It was tall, curvy and blue dominated its color scheme. It had a battle-dress of interlocked metal plate like the red machine from earlier had, though in a different configuration. It didn't appear to have a head in the normal sense either, its shoulder plates joined together by a flat, curved piece of metal that concealed whatever lay between them In a way, it was almost like the silver robot with the energy sword, its face concealed. It carried a very large gun that seemed to share many design characteristics with its own body. Said gun was fortunately being held in a cradle position and not pointed at me or anything else for that matter.

"I don't know. Is there a reason we shouldn't? I have no idea who you are, what you want, or why you seem bent on killing each other. Furthermore, this planet is under my protection, and you're trespassing." I answered, amazed at my own gall. Any normal person would've passed out from the shock of speaking with these robots or be brimming over with questions. But I had served in the U.S. Air Force and been trained to think of civilians first. In this situation, to protect the Athosians, I needed information. The blue robot began to emit an air of disapproval, though how it managed that with no face I haven't the slightest clue. The squatting one, whose name was apparently Hammerlock, gave a booming laugh and stood up.

"Oh-ho! You've got some spirit in you!" it chuckled. I was beginning to get uncomfortable. These…machines seemed all too human, which was seriously contradicting my expectations.

"I assure you, we will not harm you, or any other human under your protection. We are Autobots. We fight for the freedom of all sentient beings." The blue robot said testily.

"Oh yeah? Then what does that make the guy you just killed?" I asked pointing over to the heap of scrap metal that was left of the flying robot. Hammerlock's visage became a glower, not at me but at the mention of the 'other guy'.

"That heap of walking scrap? That was Fearswoop. Decepticon scum not worth crying over." the big bot answered. He (for it was pretty clear that Hammerlock had the personality of a jolly Englishman) turned his head and spat a jet of thick, dark fluid at the robotic corpse that looked like oil.

"And that means what to me?" I asked rhetorically, trying to get across in my tone that I was losing patience. Hammerlock glanced over at his blue companion with a look that said 'Help me out here'. The blue robot shrugged.

"You know what? Enough. Just take me to your leader or maker or whoever's in charge and I'll hash it out with them. ", I said finally, throwing up my hands in frustration. This provoked a response from one of the other two robots who had yet to speak. It clanked forward and placed a hand on the blue machine's shoulder.

"Perhaps we should take him to see Elita. If he defends this planet, then perhaps she can arrange for our protection." It said. This one had a distinctly feminine form with bright green-blue armor that seemed totally out of place on a fighting machine. Its voice too had an attractive quality…and it had lips. Well, sort of lips. That only registered in the small part of my mind which was beginning to unstoppably classify them by gender, which made no sense. They were machines after all…weren't they?

After a moment of silence, the blue robot lost some tension in its stance I hadn't noticed before and appeared to shift his gaze to me again.

"If you wish to speak to our leader, we can take you to her." he said. I considered this briefly before turning to Thoren, who had, while unobserved, picked himself up and retrieved his tablet.

"Alright, but before I do though, if you're in charge of the members of your people heading towards my camp, you'd best tell them to turn back. I've got a ship in orbit and if anything enters my territory, I'm going to call down some serious firepower. I've got people to protect. I won't hesitate to do so." I answered firmly. Hammerlock nodded curtly in response. The blue robot answered for him.

"We understand. We will do our best to round up the survivors. Most are simply frightened. They will be no trouble." That use of the word 'most' didn't get past me, but I decided to let it lie for now. Together, the four robots turned and began to walk into the woods. Hammerlock turned back to beckon me to follow.

"This way, please." he said before turning back. I debated with myself again as to whether to follow and decided to do so. But before I did, I went over to Thoren, who was shaking like he had a fever. I gently pried the tablet from his hands and reopened the channel to Elizabeth.

"Thank god. There you are. I thought you might be hurt. Your life signs indicated a severe shock." she said. Her image was flushed red with worry.

"Well your language packet went down great with at least four of them. They seem to have gotten the hang of acting human really fast." I said. Elizabeth looked confused for a second before realization passed over her visage.

"You managed to talk to them?" she exclaimed. Now the excitement was back as if it had never been gone.

"Yeah, they sound like they want some protection. They're taking me to see their leader. Someone called Elita." I said calmly. I hesitated briefly and glanced over at the retreating backs of the huge machines.

"Just so you know they've promised to round up those dots heading towards the village. However, I'd appreciate it if you'd do something for me." I added.

"Of course, Aiden. ", she said, catching my subtle tones of command.

"That's Captain Ford for now. If any and I mean any of those dots are still heading towards the village in about an hour and a half, I want you to launch drones and destroy them." I said. She saw the gleam in my eye and my grim look and understood that I wasn't doing this out of any paranoia except where it concerned my charges. I had to protect the Athosians.

"If all goes well, I'll introduce them and maybe give them a place to stay." I said, trying to clear the grim air a bit. It didn't work very well. Elizabeth just nodded, her face now a mask of disapproval.

"We swore to protect New Athos and its people, Doctor, no matter the cost." I said firmly. Before she could reply I handed the tablet to Thoren again.

"Keep your weapons drawn." I said to my three crewmembers, turning to follow the now retreating clanking of heavy metal feet, "And be on your guard."


	4. Chapter 3: New on the Block

Chapter 3: New on the Block

As we progressed through the forest, following the heavy steps of the 'Autobots' we saw signs of fierce fighting. Craters and fallen trees were everywhere. I passed a few redwoods and pines that looked to have been sliced in half with a flaming razor. Others seemed to have been crushed beneath an enormous weight. Everywhere were the signs of high-octane action and combat which had come and gone and left its mark.

After twenty minutes of this and checking with Thoren to find out where we were going, Blue signaled a halt in a very military fashion, which consisted of raising one fist and looking right, then left. As the other bots shuffled to a halt, I slipped back to check Thoren's map. Over the course of our walk I'd heard no explosions and the map showed that less and less of the dots were engaged in deadly dances that indicated battle. Mostly now they were moving towards the same point as us, which appeared to be a large, growing cluster of dots on the edge of the impact site where the forest had suffered the most damage.

I looked up at the sound of approaching metal feet. I looked to the West and saw twelve new machines emerge from the trees. The strange thing about these ones was that they were a mixed batch. I saw red eyes and blue eyes amongst them. Blue and his group must've seen it to because they immediately raised their weapons.

"Hold you fire!" shouted the robot at the lead of the column. He was at least twenty-two feet tall and looked much smoother that some of his compatriots. His armor-plating with a faded sterile white and his form slim with a wide upper body resting on an exposed network of servos, some of which dripped sparks. His left eye absent, replaced by a complex looking device with a number of what looked like emitters built into it. As he approached, it extended a small, thin spike which glowed at its tip briefly before retracting.

"Commander Afterlight, it is good to see you survived. But who are these…" Blue hesitated as if unwilling to recognize the red-eyed robots as people.

"They surrendered. They've got no love of the Decepticon cause, and they've got the scars to prove it." The white robot answered.

"What do you mean?" Blue asked his obvious superior, confusion apparent in his voice. The white robot sighed.

"The distress call was telling the truth. It was a prison ship. It was just carrying rebel Decepticons instead of Autobots. You probably wouldn't have heard because one of the loyalists tripped the ship's jump engines to a random location and crashed us here before we could stop him. We'll probably meet more like them at the rally point." the Autobot commander answered.

"About that, I assume the Admiral is-"Blue started. Afterlight cut him off.

"She's fine. She's said she's giving up the title of Admiral since she hasn't got a fleet."

"She's giving up her command?" Blue said, once more confused.

"Not in the least. I doubt anyone would let her." I realized that one of the robots, the feminine one which had suggested bringing us to 'Elita', had let out a sigh of relief at the revelation of her commander's survival. That baffled me even more. Were the two related somehow? Afterlight must've noticed us while I was deep in thought, because he chuckled.

"I see you've found some friends" he said with a tone of sudden interest. At least it wasn't condescension. That would have annoyed me. I had been referred to as 'cattle' by some Wraith, which I had responded to with some 'Mad Cow Disease' jokes before blasting their heads off. I wasn't going to take the same treatment from a bunch of robots, no matter how big they were.

"You're in charge?" I asked patiently.

"Of Undermine here and his squad, yes. If you wish to speak with our leader she's busy assembling the survivors. Who might you be?" the towering off-white robot said.

"Captain Aiden Ford, of the _Ascension_. I sent you the language archives and data you're using to talk to me via my ship, which is orbit right now. This planet is one of several under my protection, which is why I have to ask what you are doing here. Admittedly I'm pretty confused right now, seeing as I've never spoken to giant robots, but I still need to know. And I don't want to be insulting, but do you have anything to do with the Wraith?" I said firmly. The mention of my ship must've confused him.

"We do not know of these…'Wraith'. You are not native to this planet?" he inquired, leaning down on one enormous knee to be a little more level with me.

"No." I answered. I stared at his face. For machines, they were proving to be pretty easy to read. Just because their faces weren't perfect for emotion didn't mean it didn't show.

"How long have you been in this galaxy?" I asked him. That surprised him a lot by the look he gave me.

"You'll excuse me if I admit I am having a little bit of trouble adapting to your speech and terms. We have been here less than a month. As for how we've come to be here, that is a bit of a 'long story', as your people would say." he answered. He looked me up and down, which was a feat given that he loomed over me even while kneeling. Finally he rose.

"I feel that there is much we have to learn from each other. I am not qualified to speak for my people." he said. The blue bot, Undermine, spoke up.

"We were leading them to the Admiral when you came across us." he added helpfully, "There's a settlement not too far west of here. Its protection is their primary goal. Captain…Aiden has requested that we prevent any stragglers from encroaching on his territory."

Afterlight nodded and turned to Undermine.

"Go and collect a troupe to round up any survivors, hostile or otherwise. Be sure to offer the chance of surrender." he said pointedly to the blue robot. That last line made Undermine glare in the direction of the red-eyed robots, which seemed oblivious to his wroth. Their stance and demeanor was that of prisoners who had had all the fight beaten out of them long ago.

"As you command." he responded, his tone the very definition of the word 'grudgingly'. He stalked over to Afterlight's group, beckoned to five of the blue-eyed robots and began to walk west as they broke away from the main company to follow. Afterlight watched them as they strode out of sight. Sunset was in full swing now, with night coming on its heel fast. As he passed into the forest, the red light of the falling sun glinted off his blue armor in purple glory. Then he and his team were gone.

"I apologize for any confusion you may be feeling. Please follow me and I will escort you to the Admiral." Afterlight stated. Then he beckoned to the remaining robots. They joined company and with us behind, we were on the move again.

It took us another ten minutes of jogging and walking to reach the gathering of blue dots on Thoren's map. By that point the light was going out of the sky. I wondered what Halling must be feeling in his tent with his two sons. It was quite possible he was praying to the Ancestors to shield me from harm. He was a very religious man as far as the Ancients were concerned. He was a little naïve like that, but he had become wiser over the years I had known him too. I prayed to whatever divine force was listening that I wasn't making a mistake that would bring him and his people to harm.

The trees around us were thinner and sparser now. A good many had had their branches blown off. Some had fallen and others had been uprooted by the blast. I began to hear the clicking and clanking of many, many machines nearby too, strange, alien sounds made all the more frightening by the growing night.

In the dim light of twilight, with the last of the sun almost gone, I began to see them. What surprised me the most was not their number, but their variety. There were so many of them, divided into small groups, red-eyes and blue-eyes rarely mixing. Some were only vaguely humanoid, and others were not humanoid at all. I saw one drift overhead like a gravity-defying giant squid with glittering blue eyes, its tendrils drifting lazily behind it. Lennann gasped as it slid past.

They weren't all the same size either. Now and then I spotted a few that were actually human-sized or smaller. Most were somewhere in the range of twenty to twenty-five feet, though I was pretty sure I passed some that were much, much larger. They all turned to look as we passed. I felt small beneath their gazes, some of which were pleading, some of which were confused, most of which were blank.

Kiryk drew up next to me. He had diplomatically slung his crossbow back over his shoulder. As we walked together through the sea of machines, he spoke.

"I have much to thank you for, my friend." he said. I looked over at him briefly.

"What for?" I asked, curious. Kiryk had never spoken in the tone he was speaking with now. It was one that was blank and flat, trying to hide a sense of awe the size of the universe.

"I've seen a lot of strange things in our journeys together…but never have I seen such beings as these. They are…amazing, and yet so sad." he said.

"Sad?"

"You do not feel it?" he asked, "I have, ever since we've gotten near them. When I look at them, I feel a sense of great loss and sorrow, of great things long gone." That made me wonder...Kiryk was pretty sensitive to other people. Generally he only talked about his sensations if the person they were about was planning to stab me, cheat me or lie to me. But on a rare occasion he had voiced his feelings about certain places. We had once visited the Hidden Monastery of Xaer, where my quest for purpose in life beyond Atlantis had begun. We had stood together in the Cloud Spires and looked out over the mountain ranges that seemed to stretch on forever and he had told me of how the whole place seemed to reek of squandered potential, and that it was like it was waiting for something. A call to arms, a cause to fight for…

When I had asked what he meant he had clammed up. Since then, I had learned better than to ask him to elaborate. Some things were never meant to be put into words.

We were led through the mass of moving metal to the foot of an enormous black shape in the almost-nonexistent light the size of a large house. It groaned and creaked as we approached, and I saw at its foot the shape of another feminine robot with blue eye, bright blue eyes that shone like lasers in the darkening woods. This one was one of the taller bots I'd seen, capping at around thirty feet tall…and covered in a magenta and white color scheme mixed with black. She loomed over us as we approached. I tried not to trip over anything in the dark. It would not be a good first impression.

Finally, Afterlight waved away the other bots who had been trailing behind him save the tall green-blue one who strode right up the towering figure of what I presumed was Admiral Elita and hugged her. It was an action I was not expecting. Apparently the Admiral hadn't expected it either and was slow to respond.

"I thought you were dead!" the green-blue bot said, and it amazed me that it sounded as if she was trying hold back tears. This was just too weird.

"I'm fine, cousin." the Admiral replied, obviously caught off guard by the other bot.

"I saw the _Strika_ explode."

"I had already boarded the prison ship along with most of our crew. Our family, such as it is, is still here." The Admiral patted her 'cousin' on the back and the two released each other.

"Go and find Chromia. She's with the rest of the command crew. I will try to be along shortly." she said in comforting tones. The blue-green bot nodded, then turned and departed, though not without a backward glance or two.

When she had finally gone, the enormous robot assumed a more serious demeanor.

"Report, Commander." she said firmly.

"I rounded up a few more stragglers and Undermine has taken five of my squad to catch up with any that might be running beyond the reach of our scouts. We've also taken on a number of Decepticon defectors…though I can see you have quite a few already." The Autobot began to explain. Elita waved one hand in dismissal.

"Yes, though their loyalty remains to be proven. We've virtually eliminated the loyalists, though I'm quite sure some got away. The rest, as you have said, surrendered. And I see you've made contact with the native population." she said, shifting those bright eyes of her onto me.

"I assume you are behind the information packets we received via personal communications?" she inquired. I had to resist the urge to salute. Somehow, she emanated an aura of self-control and authority I had only ever encountered in my commanding officers…apart from John Sheppard, that is.

"Yes. My ship is in orbit. I decided that trying to talk to you would be more productive than shooting first and asking questions later." I said. Immediately I cursed myself for uttering that last line. The Admiral did not seem to mind and, indeed, smirked in amusement at the comment.

"I thank you for your restraint, Captain…?" she replied, leaving a question hanging on the end.

"Ford. Aiden Ford. This is my first officer Kiryk and two of my crew, Lennann and Thoren Axton."

"You have a ship?" she inquired further. I sighed.

"Yes. Listen, from what I can tell, you're new to this galaxy, so I'd better warn you. This planet is one of several under my protection."

"Protection…from what?"

"The Wraith. Be glad you haven't run into them. Until a few years ago they ran this galaxy and treated the human population as food."

"What?" The look of shock and fury on the robot Admiral's face was a sight to behold.

"Of course lately, they've been engaged in a civil war amongst themselves over a growing food shortage. Some factions are making the most of that. I'm one of them." I said. That seemed to calm her down a little.

"Which brings me to you." I went on after a pause, "I have no idea who you are or where you come from. As far as I know, you could be a threat. Now, please tell me that isn't so…" I said looking at her and trying to maintain a firm demeanor despite the fact that I was in a very unfortunate strategic position.

There was a long pause which finally ending in the Admiral giving me a small, sad smile.

"We are no threat to you, Aiden Ford. I would love to know more about this place, this galaxy, all that you know, but I'm sure you could simply formulate that as another information package. I however, do not have that option. So I will tell you why we are no threat. I will tell you our tale." she said. The sorrow in her voice was almost unimaginable. It spoke of things long gone, dreams long dead and of regrets now insoluble. She turned to the great black shape behind her.

"Omega Supreme, I need your eyes." she said. The huge black shape shifted and rose a bit, rising to reveal that it was not a house, but a robot that dwarfed every other one I had seen so far, a titan with blue eyes like two stars. As my breath caught in my throat, those eyes flashed and thin blue rays burst forth from them. In front of me, a solar system sprang into existence, causing Kiryk to jump back. It startled me as well, and I almost pulled out my pistol in instinctual panic.

The hologram shifted, pulled in towards the second planet in the system of light. It looked incredibly real, a lightshow that put every other I had ever seen to shame.

"This is…was our homeworld, Cybertron. Your terms cannot encompass the full scope of what we are, but in simple terms, we are autonomous techno-organic life forms. We call ourselves Autobots." the Admiral began, gesturing to the expanding form of a planet, which, as it drew closer, began to resolve into a world covered in an immense and sprawling city-scape. From pole to pole with almost no exception, metal glittered in the light of an alien sun. It was a spectacular sight, even if it wasn't solid.

The image suddenly shivered and stretched, blurred and reformed into a new shape. Hovering in the air just above me was an enormous cube. It was mathematically perfect, sharp-edged and the color of burnished bronze. It gleamed with the same majesty of the planetary city. All across its six sides were emblazoned complex sigils and lines that wove together in an incomprehensible pattern.

"This was the source of our life." Elita went on, "We called it the Allspark. We do not know where it came from, who made it, or even how deeply we are connected with it, but it has always been a central part of our civilization." I gazed up at the slowly spinning cube and tried to keep my mind one what she was saying.

"You said Cybertron 'was' your home." I asked, "What happened?" The towering Autobot looked away.

"There was…a war, a civil war for control of the Allspark. One side, led by Megatron, our supreme military leader, sought to use it to conquer other worlds and build an empire. I stood with the opposition, those who remained true to the belief that freedom is the right of all sentient beings."

"Sorry, I said, baffled, "How does a cube have the power to enslave a planet?"

"It has a number of functions. The technology behind it is so complex that it is unlikely we will ever be able to understand it, but suffice to say, Megatron sought to use it to build an army."

"What?"

"The cube has the power to animate any sufficiently advanced technology, to transform it-"Elita began to say. The switch clicked in my brain and the horrific realization of what she was saying hit home.

"Into more of you." I finished. I heard Thoren swear under his breath. Elita gave me a long look. It was hard to see what was in that gaze. Perhaps a dash of surprise, mixed with disapproval at 'more of you'.

"Yes. The war raged across the surface of our world for almost a thousand of your years. Though we were far outnumbered, we Autobots held our own against Megatron and his followers, the Decepticons. In the end, however, our planet was reduced to a nearly uninhabitable state from the unceasing conflict." she continued. Now the cube vanished and a vista of enormous alien structures, laced with scorch marks, rubble, fires and robotic corpses replaced it. In the distance was a mountain, black against a starry sky. Low in the sky, huge alien ships cruised slowly towards it. Suddenly, the mountain's peak flashed white. Up from the top of the towering landform rose a star, trailing smoke. It was a rocket, a huge missile, sailing upwards, higher and higher until it was almost out of sight. As it reached the limit of vision, another, smaller star, rose from the ashes of the cityscape to follow it.

"To finally stop the madness of Megatron and his Decepticons, our leader, Optimus Prime, launched the cube into deep space. Megatron himself followed, and vanished along with the cube." I crossed my arms. It gave me some comfort under the enormous sad gaze of the towering Autobot Admiral, though not much.

"And was that the end of the war?" I asked.

"No. It was simply the end of the first act." Elita said sadly, "Without the cube, our planet's condition began to deteriorate further. Our scientists struggled to find an answer, but after decades of research, it was finally confirmed that the only solution was to locate the Allspark."

The image changed again. Now the metal-covered planet was apparently being orbited by space debris. Then the space debris began to move. Little jets of blue flame propelled them forward into the blackness of space. I suddenly realized that given the size of the planet, the ships, to scale, must have been huge.

"Both sides assembled fleets of ships to carry vast portions of our surviving population across the universe to seek out the cube wherever it might be." Elita explained, as, one by one, the ships vanished in flashes of blue light. There was a brief thrumming sound and the hologram winked out altogether. My night vision was in shambles, so I focused on the bright blue eyes of the enormous female robot.

"So you've been searching for this cube thing for, what ten-thousand years?" I asked finally. The idea of such a quest boggled me. Ten-thousand years, hopping from world to world, galaxy to galaxy, all in a vain hope of finding something that was slowly becoming little more than a fading memory, a dying hope.

"Yes. We have traveled far and long. As for how we came here, that story is rather short." Elita said, "We entered this galaxy in pursuit of the Allspark. We were seeking a place to set up a temporary base of operations while we conducted a thorough investigation when we received a distress call. We tracked it back to what we now know was a Decepticon prison ship. We believed that there were Autobots being held captive onboard and decided to take it, given the decaying condition of our own vessel, which was destroyed in the ensuing battle. I and most of my crew had managed to come aboard by then however, but before we could claim the control center, one of the ship's crew activated the jump engines on a random vector and crashed us here."

The huge Admiral finally fell silent, and I put one hand on my chin in thought.

"So should I expect more of you? Because the last thing I need is an alien civil war on this world." I asked.

"It is unlikely that there are any other Decepticons, or for that matter, Autobots, in this galaxy. The search for the cube has spread us incredibly thin. We have not had contact with our flagship, the _Ark_, for more than a century." she answered. I lowered my head in thought. It was a lot to take in. Hell, they were a lot to take in. Maybe I could strike a deal with them. If they weren't just hoping and were really certain about being the only ones of their kind in the galaxy, then they might be worth the risk. They could become powerful allies, if I could convince them to fight the Wraith. Of course that was a pretty dicey proposition right now. I couldn't imagine them wanting to enter another war for people they barely knew, much less at the same time they were fighting a civil war which had already cost them more than I could imagine.

There was a clanking behind us. I spun around to see two blue-eyed robots frog-marching another one between them toward us. At first I thought that the robot in the middle was dead, because I couldn't see any eye-lights, red or blue. Then, in the light of the rising moon, I recognized it. It was the silver robot from the battle in the woods, the one with the black visor that hid whatever face it might have.

"We apologize for the interruption Admiral, but we thought you should be informed." the robot on the left of the silver one said, which was shoved forward and just barely avoided falling onto its knees.

"Of what?" the Admiral asked.

"This one seeks an audience with you. She says she sent the distress call after escaping from her cell." The left robot said in answer. The Admiral turned her gaze to the silver robot and glared down at 'her'. Then her gaze widened in surprise.

"You?!" she said angrily.

"Yes. Me. It's good to see I'm not forgotten. Before you decide to spear me with your famous lance, I would like to say that I am not my brother." the silver robot said in a voice that clearly marked it as feminine even if its body did not entirely do the same.

"Your brother served as Megatron's second in command." Elita One hissed, pouring an ocean of venom into her words. "He cost me the lives of more friends than I can count. He killed dozens of my finest officers and murdered many of my family simply out of spite."

"My brother," the silver robot growled back," is not the reason I came to speak to you. I came to offer myself as a source of information. Believe what you will, I lost all love for Megatron's cause long ago." There was a staring match and I felt that had anything passed between the gaze of the two towering machines, it would have been atomized by the intensity of their rivalry.

"Alright then, tell me what you know…Deadscream." Elita finally said. The silver machine backed down a little, but it bristled at that last word.

"I know that my name is no longer that. I am Deadfall. I would like to be called such." she answered.

"I do not care what you want. Speak quickly. My patience is short and growing shorter." Elita snapped. I was amazed at the animosity between the two. It was so human as to make me wonder if I had been wrong to simply label them as machines. 'Deadfall' seemed to force herself to calm down and bowed her head.

"You know that when Megatron disappeared, Starscream, my cowardly, ill-begotten brother, took command of the Decepticons. What you do not know was that there was a schism in the ranks after our departure from Cybertron." she began to explain. Elita One showed no reaction to this information. Her face might've been made of granite for all the expression it showed.

"It was Megatron's lead scientist. He made a discovery that changed his outlook on everything." Deadfall continued. That got a small reaction.

"Shockwave?" Elita asked. The huge shape of the Autobot she had called Omega Supreme shifted at the word and let out a growl like a mountain mumbling in its sleep.

"Indeed. He was studying the degradation of our world, a world that once held fourteen billion of us before the war. In his study, he turned his attention to that number, a number that has dropped steadily and with increasing speed ever since the loss of the Allspark." Deadfall answered. Then she paused before going on, shifting from one leg to the other.

"Without the Allspark, our race will die, not because our world is lost, but because we are sterile without it." she finished. That got a serious reaction. I saw the shock in Elita's expression.

"No sparklings have been successfully conceived in all the time since the cube vanished. Not one. And if we continue to kill each other…then we will join the Primes in extinction." Deadfall said flatly. There was a silence. I stood between them, confused as all hell. 'Conceived'!? What the hell did that mean? Did they reproduce like humans? That little revelation changed everything. If they reproduced like that, then everything I had seen in relation to their social interactions made sense. All that stuff about family and friends…they really meant family. How in the hell would that work though?!

"Shockwave gathered a vast power base beyond the sight of my brother. He thought that searching for the cube would be a waste of time. He believed that there had to be another solution, one simply waiting to be found." Deadfall said, "When the time was right, he and his forces split from the main Decepticon fleet and fled here, a place where Starscream could not find them." She went silent after that.

"What happened next?" Elita said impatiently.

"I do not remember." Deadfall replied. Elita's metal hands clenched into fists and she took a step forward.

"I cannot remember. That ship was more than just a prison ship. It was a floating laboratory. I and my fellow prisoners, we were more than captives. We were test subjects." Deadfall went on hurriedly, "We were part a battery of experiments. They were trying to find more efficient ways of merging Cybertronian techno-biology with something…I don't know what. My memory after locating this galaxy is a blur. I can only assume it is the same with all the others. Whatever they did to us, they damaged our memory circuits." This explanation did not go over well.

"Perhaps you are simply lying." The guard on Deadfall's right grunted. He was big and green and very…rotund is perhaps the best word.

"Check the ship's logs. They will bear out what I have said. Its data core no doubt has more than enough evidence to show you that we are not enemies." Deadfall said quickly. I could detect a smidgen of panic in her voice. Elita turned to the right-hand guard.

"Bulkhead, you and Afterlight here are to remain with me. I must finish negotiating with Captain Ford. Cobalt, you will escort our…'guest' to a group of trustworthy Autobots and place her under guard. See no harm comes to her…we need her alive." Elita said coldly. The right-hand robot nodded and seized the ex-Decepticon by her arm, then marched her away, fading into the multitude of machines surrounding us.

Now Elita refocused on me.

"I apologize for that Captain." she said. I waved my hand dismissively.

"None required." I said with as much calm as I could collect, having just been subject to some disturbing revelations and war politics amongst giant alien robots. Part of me still wondered if I should be calling them robots at all, especially after what I had just heard. I collected more personal will and tried to continue.

"So you want to set up here to look for this…Allspark? I'm willing to talk about it if you can promise there won't be any trouble, though I'm a little confused just how you're going to look for it apart from using the Stargate to search every planet in the galaxy one at a time." I asked. That earned a look of confusion.

"Stargate?" Elita said.

"Oh, right sorry. I guess I should have Elizabeth prepare a welcome packet, get you up to speed with things." I said in my most benevolent voice. This earned me a small bow from the Admiral which made me have to resist taking a step back.

"We are your guests, Captain. We will abide by your rules." she said solemnly.

"That's good to hear. Now I've got a lot of very scared people West of here and I think it would be a good idea if you could send two, and only two of your people with me so I can show them that you're not a threat. Plus I think I'm going to need some proof to convince them I'm not crazy." I replied. The shock and fear I had been feeling were beginning to wear off now, or at least diminish now that it was clear no one wanted to step on me. A giddy feeling was rising to take its place, one of insane joy at the thrill of the adventure these…'Autobots' represented. This was huge! It was beyond anything I'd ever dealt with and in my time as 'Captain' Ford, I'd dealt with some really big things.

"As you wish, Captain Ford. I assume you will want to accompany us when we enter the wreckage to access the ship's data core?" she inquired.

"That would be good, yes. I'd like to know a little more about what's going on here." The Autobot Admiral nodded in response.

"As would I, Captain." she answered. She turned to face the one she had called Bulkhead, the large green one.

"Bulkhead, please accompany the Captain to his people. Do your best not to frighten them. I do not want another conflict on top of the one we are already engaged in. Oh, and take Flareup with you." she commanded. Bulkhead nodded.

"Yes ma' am. I'll try not to scare the natives." he said. I could hear a certain amount of humor behind that, which I didn't really like. I needed to keep Halling and his people calm. That was going to be difficult given the only aliens they'd ever met were the Wraith. With luck they wouldn't panic and run like hell.


	5. Chapter 4: The Good Neighbors

Chapter 4: The Good Neighbors

It took Bulkhead twenty minutes to find 'Flareup', who turned out to be a female Autobot combat 'medic', not quite as tall as most of the others and a done up with armor that was a dark red color. I found it odd that most Autobot females seemed to have body shapes that mimicked attractive human shapes. Still, it would help. If they looked humanoid, or better yet human-like, the Athosians might be more inclined to accept them.

When they finally turned up, I was growing impatient. Night was now upon us. Some of the 'Cybertronians', as I had begun to think of them (if 'Autobot' and 'Decepticon' were simply factional names and I was going to have to deal with both of them, it seemed simpler to just give them one name for when I had to refer to both sides collectively), had begun leave the woods, only to return, dragging equipment into the gathering, presumably from the wreck of the ship. This included large, round barrel-shaped devices, which opened up to become enormous lanterns that cast a yellow-orange light on the gathering metal giants. One was set up near us while we waited, casting an eerie glow on the Autobot Admiral and illuminating a fraction of the gigantic Omega Supreme.

As the two Autobots approached, the red one, Flareup, raised one hand in form of greeting. I turned and beckoned to Thoren, who had been slowly wandering around the clearing amongst the robot hordes we were standing in. He rushed over, tablet in hand, ready to lend it to me.

"You know," he muttered, "given how much you use this thing, I can't help but wonder if you should be carrying it, Captain." I grunted noncommittally and took the device in my hands, reopening a visual channel to Elizabeth. As soon as her face appeared, I began to speak.

"How are those dots doing? We're coming up on the deadline." I asked. She frowned, but replied.

"There were some serious scuffles but those that I can still see are heading back towards you." she replied. I breathed a sigh of relief. One of my sincere fears upon giving the command to kill any bots that violated the Athosian territory was that, if they turned out to be friendly, I might end up accidently killing one or two stragglers. It would not have been a good way to begin an alliance. At the time though, it had been the only precaution I could think of. The best thing to do now was to make sure that such a scenario did not occur again.

"Good. That's over with then. I'm going take two of them to meet the Athosians. I want you to prepare an info-packet on me and this galaxy. I've spoken with their leader and apparently they're new to this galaxy." I answered. Elizabeth's frown deepened.

"You spoke with their leader?" she asked.

"Yeah, she outranks me by a lot." I replied.

"She?" Elizabeth asked perplexedly.

"Yes, she." I answered flatly, "They've asked me for asylum, more or less, and right now, I can't see any immediate threats they could pose which we couldn't deal with by blasting them from orbit. They've already begun salvaging the ship and they're willing to share what they have as far as I can tell."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to just stride into Halling's village with two giant alien robots? He might be a little, oh, I don't know, unprepared?" she shot back. I couldn't help laughing. Kiryk gave me a disapproving look, so I stopped.

"I'm fairly confident that if I bring Halling and some Athosians to meet them a little ways from the village instead of 'striding in' as you put it, I can prevent any severe reactions." I answered. Elizabeth nodded slowly.

"Alright then, since you seem to be on such good terms with their leader, I suggest you ask for a census when you have the time. That and a list of anything else they're willing to share. They seem a fascinating people."

"Thank you." I nearly leapt out of my skin at that comment. I looked up and saw the red Autobot, Flareup, was standing only a few feet away. How the hell had she gotten so close without making noise?

"I don't know about you, but in my culture it's considered sort of rude to eavesdrop." I shot back, still miffed from her silent appearance.

"I apologize…'Captain', is it? It's just that I've never seen technology like yours. Who are you talking to?" she said politely in response. Hoping she hadn't heard my comment about blasting them from orbit, I pulled myself together.

"My ship's A.I., Elizabeth." I answered, "She used to be human, but she ran into some…unforeseen circumstances."

"An A.I. that was once human?" Flareup responded, "I-we have encountered many mechanical races in our search for the Allspark-"

"I can imagine." I muttered under my breath.

"But I have never met an organic who was transformed into a software entity." she continued. "Most alien civilizations I have encountered were resistant to the idea of digital immortality."

"It wasn't exactly her choice. She was captured by a race of highly aggressive machines. They tried to absorb her into their collective, but she managed to resist them." I went on, amazed at the ease with which this was all coming out. I hadn't spoken about Elizabeth's past with anyone outside of my closest allies.

"Fascinating! Does this race of machines still exist?" I shook my head.

"Alright, Flareup, quit pestering the man. We're here as his guests, not the other way around." Bulkhead cut in. His tread made the earth shake a little, and given his girth I wasn't surprised. Fat jokes were out of the question though, since nothing was rippling, and it just appeared to be how he was built…or made or whatever. I was still trying to wrap my limited cerebral powers around the idea of machines that could be 'born' and failing. And the idea of machine sex…was a thought that couldn't be thoughted. My head would explode before thoughting it.

"It's alright. We were just getting to know each other." I said in response. The male Autobot's look softened a little. Flareup, however, did not ask any further questions.

"Well, unless there's anything else you two have to discuss, I'm ready to see this settlement you wanted to show us." Bulkhead said. I nodded.

"I would transport you myself, but this…forested terrain is most inhospitable to my alternate form." Flareup said. My ears perked up.

"Alternate form?" I asked as casually as I could.

Flareup didn't say anything. She simply moved as if she were going down on all fours...and changed shape. It was just like the Decepticon back in the woods which had almost flattened me. In a graceful dance of moving parts, she went from a looming, feminine human-shaped robot to something else entirely.

She had converted into a car. It was an alien car of course, retaining the general shape of an Earth vehicle, but obviously designed by a person with a thing for curves. She gleamed in the moonlight coming through the trees now and the glow of the nearby illumination units.

"Whoa." I managed. The side of the amazingly familiar-looking vehicle slid open like the side-door of a van revealing a pair metal seats and an alien dashboard within. From inside came Flareup's voice.

"It is an ability shared by all our species. It's a bit more complicated than it appears, but in short, we can switch between a vehicular and standard form at will." she explained in kindly tones.

"What, I mean…how? How do you do that?" I finally blurted out.

"Flareup, I think you scared the little guy." Bulkhead chuckled. I reddened in irritation at that. Before I could allow my emotions to get the better of me, Flareup intervened.

"I apologize, Captain. I did not mean to startle you." Her side door slid shut and then she changed again. I watched in awe as the whole process I had first seen now happened in reverse. Wheels split apart, became sections of joints and armor. The body of the car seemed to open up and totally reconfigure itself, piece by piece, until at last Flareup stood over me again, just the same as she had been.

"Wow. That's…I mean, that's amazing." I babbled. My brain, already in information-shock overload, was now faced with the fact that the robots I had come to see were not totally robots were also shape-shifters.

"We can imitate any form of vehicle, within certain limits." she continued.

I tried to gather myself for a response, but could only come out with: "That's…nice." I cursed myself and then cursed Bulkhead, seeing the smug grin on his face at my reaction. I did something I do really well and buried my feelings.

"Sorry, I'm just a little out of my depth right now…still adjusting." I said. Flareup nodded politely, and I could swear I heard a suppressed chuckle from Bulkhead. I waved my hand to the West.

"The settlement's this way. I'll take you there. I just need to clear up one last thing." I said. Then I turned my back on them, dragging Thoren to my side by the strap that held the tablet, which I focused on now.

"Alright, I need you to begin an information exchange. Learn everything, and I mean everything you can about them and record everything they're willing to share. I have to go introduce these two to the galaxy. Oh, and before I go, I haven't set up a time yet, but apparently they have plans to start stripping the ship and they want me to stand around while they do."

Elizabeth smirked.

"Well I'm sure you're looking forward to that. Just one more question: Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

I grinned in the most maniacal way I could.

"When have I ever been known to have a plan that I didn't make up on the spot?" I shot back. She laughed, though there was a trace of concern there in her amusement. I think she could see it in my face too. Right now, we were reacting to an insane situation in the best way we could. To make matters worse, I was working with less than five hours of sleep. That was going to catch up with me. Hopefully it would be after I had defused things and formed a plan.

I let Thoren take the tablet back. Then with a wave to Kiryk and a brief rummage in the folds of my coat to produce a Genii flashlight I had swiped the last time I was at the Yard, I marched back the way I had come to the camp of machines. The rest of my team, including the two Autobots, turned and followed into the dark of the forest. My only hope was that the light was enough to prevent them from accidentally making noise by crashing into things, or worse, stepping on us.

After fifteen minutes of walking, the memory of the cloaked Jumper I had left behind nudged me. I hoped desperately that nothing had gotten in by accident. I tried to avoid showing my anger with myself over leaving the rear ramp down, but it must've leaked through in the way I picked up my pace. Lennann drew level with my progress as we marched on, with a look on her face showing she wanted to talk.

"Yes?" I said, doing my best not to sound aggressive.

"These…beings…seem to have gained your trust quite quickly, if you don't mind my saying, sir." she murmured, giving the two Cybertronians tromping along behind us a wary glance.

"Like hell." I grunted. At seeing the baffled look she gave me, I slowed down a bit.

"I don't trust them any further than I can throw them. But apart from that little thing out in the forest, none of them have tried to kill us so far. So until such a time as when, or if, they do, I'm going to play the hospitality game. It'll be an easier way of learning about them than shooting at them and sorting through the pieces." I whispered. Lennann nodded dubiously and sank back behind me. I couldn't blame her. After that interlude with the prisoner, it had become clear to me that even if there was no direct threat to my people and I, there was a high danger of being caught in the middle of some enormous politics…literally.

The hike continued for twenty minutes, through the dark of a lightly mutilated forest, littered with some toppled trees, tripping roots, craters and enormous broken Cybertronian bodies. As we came across yet another of these shattered alien carcasses, I whistled in awe. The Cybertronian had been relatively humanoid, save for the somewhat elongated limbs and the clusters of now-dark spider eyes that were mounted on its head. Part of its torso was blown away and what looked like a stab wound inflicted by an I-beam dominated its neck.

"Eyesore." spat Bulkhead as he came up to stand over the corpse.

"You knew him?" I asked.

"He was an assassin for the Decepticons." The big green Autobot snorted. I waited for a moment, but that appeared to be it. He glanced down at me and saw my look of expectation.

"I never knew him personally, but he killed a friend of mine on Cybertron in the early days of the war." he said in explanation. I let it go at that. The baffling nature of Cybertronian social interaction and their individual histories could wait.

"This way." I said, walking around the hulk of scrap and moving on. Bulkhead simply trod on the corpse's head with a crunch and followed. In my head, I silently wondered if it was like this between all Autobots and Decepticons. I was reminded of my High School U.S. History class, which seemed like a geological epoch ago, and the month in which we studied the American Civil War.

Brother had fought brother, the saying went. Perhaps it was the same for the Autobots and Decepticons. Each side felt the other had betrayed their people. That might explain the animosity. Of course, when you combined that with the usual wartime fury that comes from losing a friend to the enemy, you had a nasty combination.

I looked over my shoulder a Bulkhead. I barely knew him, or his people. Yet here I stood, trusting them, despite the fact that by helping them, I might've just entered a civil war way larger than I could conceive of. And instead of focusing on the things that separated us, I was finding ways to relate to them. It was an interesting thought. Maybe Elizabeth's diplomatic attitude had rubbed off on me over the years in more ways than I had suspected.

As we drew near the Athosian settlement, I did my best to avoid the hunting traps they had set, which served the dual purpose of warding off predators and catching dinner. When we were about a quarter of a mile away, I brought my little group to a halt.

"Alright, I want you, Kiryk, and you, Thoren, to stay here with these two." I said, using two of my fingers to point at the pair of enormous Autobots. Kiryk nodded in understanding. Thoren unlimbered his gun and, while keeping it pointed nonthreateningly at the ground, stood in clear guard on the two Cybertronians.

"Captain, I'm not sure I understand your intentions." Flareup said. There was an edge to her polite confusion, saying clearly that if I was thinking of taking her prisoner, she would have none of it.

"My friends in the settlement are rather…unprepared for you. The only aliens they've ever seen are hostile in the extreme, so I think it'd be a good idea if I tried to avoid a mass panic." I explained haltingly. This seemed to satisfy the medic, though it had less of an effect on Bulkhead. He glowered at me, but said nothing.

"I'll be back, and I'll bring Halling to meet you." I said calmly.

"Could you possibly bring some more light back with you?" Thoren grunted.

"Will do." I said. Then I turned to Lennann.

"You're with me." I said. With a nod of affirmation, she drew up next to me. Then, walking together by the light of the flashlight, we continued on towards the village.

We were intercepted before we got there. As we approached the circle of firelight and illuminated tents, a dark shape sprang up, outlined like the trees around the village by the light coming from behind him.

"Halt!" he shouted, "Who goes there!"

I recognized the voice, and the height, of the shadow.

"Hey, Jinto!" I called back. The figure, which had been holding a large pistol, lowered it and ran forward, grabbing me in a big manly hug. Jinto was one of Halling's two sons. He had grown quite a bit since I first met him, but since the departure of Atlantis and my rise as guardian of this world, he had come to treat me like a favorite uncle.

When I had first met him he had been eight and now was almost sixteen, but he still treated me to the same big hug. Even though he was old enough to own a weapon, hunt with the hunters of the village and have a love interest on one of the worlds his father traded with, he loved to see me. Finally, he released me and allowed me to perform the Athosian greeting ritual of bowing our heads together.

"It is good to see you." he said jovially as we parted.

"Same here, Jinto. I'd love to talk more but I'm in a really big hurry. I need to speak to your dad." I said. The boy looked slightly disappointed, but didn't let it drag on him.

"Is it about the big ship that crashed in the woods?" he asked.

"Yes. By the way, what are you doing out here?" I asked as he turned and began to lead us into the village.

"We were spread thin. Several of our people are off-world on a trading expedition and since I am the eldest…", he explained. I patted him on the shoulder.

"You got saddled with guard duty." I finished.

"Yes. My father is in the main tent. He is most anxious for news." Jinto said, grinning.

"Excellent." I said. The village circle was empty, though all the tents around the big fire used to cook for the feasts were lit from the inside. The big tent that served as Halling's residence was my destination. I ducked my way in through the tent flap into the warm interior which was lit by candles and carpeted. In the center of the room sat Halling, looking anxious. As I entered, he looked up.

"Captain!" he said, his long face breaking into a smile.

"Halling, it has been many days!" I said, shaking his hand and using the phrase Athosians used to greet a friend that has not been seen for a long time.

"Indeed, too many, Captain. We were becoming worried when night had fallen and you did not call back." he said. Over the years, Halling had come to treat me like a brother, given all I had done personally for him and his people. In fact, I think he trusted me far more than he had ever trusted the Atlantis Expedition.

"Sorry about that. I was pretty busy. In fact that's why I'm here." I said. Halling's face now took on an expression of confusion.

"I do not understand. You went to investigate the crashed ship. Have you found something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I did find something. There were survivors." I said. I had always been forward with Halling, as he had with me.

"Wraith?" he asked, looking worried now. I shook my head.

"Not even close." I said, grinning, "I've got two of them waiting out in the woods. I wanted introduce you to them personally so you can speak to your people about them and get them to stay calm."

"Are they dangerous?" the Athosian asked. I hesitated before answering.

"I'm not entirely sure…they're certainly very intimidating, though from what I've seen so far they're mostly peaceful." I finally said.

"Intimidating?" Halling asked, looking even more confused at my evasiveness.

"I came here to bring you to meet them. They say they want asylum, and I wasn't about to let them stay without your permission. This is your planet after all." I said. Halling's face remained confused.

"I do not understand. Who are they?" he said. I paused, trying to think of a way to explain the idea of giant robots to a man who, like most of the population of the Pegasus Galaxy, had lived without the comforts of modern technology (like plumbing) all his life…and gave up.

"They're like nothing I've ever met. I can say that much. I'll be honest, there's no way I can describe them. You need to come and see them for yourself." I said. Halling looked at me with suspicion.

"You are sure they are peaceful?" he asked.

"No. But I am sure that they aren't too big a threat that I couldn't safely deal with them." I replied firmly. This seemed to satisfy Halling much more. As leader of his village, his first concern was for the safety of his people, and he had learned not to simply hope for the best. The fact that he had put Athosians on patrol around the village was testament to that.

"Then I will come with you. Shall I come alone, or bring someone with me?" he asked, stepping forward.

"I think alone would be best. In fact, I don't think anyone besides you should see them until the sun comes up. That way, when you introduce finally introduce them, it's not in the dark, where fear is more likely to take control. Also, I think, as leader of the Athosians, you should have a say in whether or not they stay, as I said." I said in response. Halling nodded.

"I thank you, Captain. I look forward to meeting these…new arrivals." Halling said.

"Oh, trust me." I said, my grin, which had gone away for a while, now returning," You'll be impressed."

As soon as Halling had donned a slightly warmer set of coverings to protect against the autumn chill and fetched some fitting torches, I led him into the forest, admonishing Jinto and Lennann to remain behind and keep an eye on things. With our two torches adding to the light of the moon filtering through the trees and my flashlight, the forest seemed much less creepy than it had when I had first come through.

To be honest, I hated being in the forest at night, especially thick pine forests. I always felt like I was going to get lost or (most irrationally) that some screaming zombie wearing bunch of clown masks and wielding a chainsaw was going to rush out of the shadows. Sometimes I regretted watching so many movies (in particular the scary ones) during my life back on Earth. However, unlike the scene in Cry of Fear that had brought on the phobia, I was neither a chronically depressed teenager, nor carrying a fluorescent camping lantern and wielding only a branch as a weapon. Taking comfort in that, I guided Halling through the dark of the trees.

Halling showed no fear, despite the situation. He had no reason to fear the woods. He had lived in one forest or another all his life, and all his life, the true danger had come from above. It was the same for almost the people of this galaxy. There's not much use for ghost stories when the vampires are all too real. I briefly recalled the time, back when I was still part of the Atlantis Expedition, when John Sheppard had tried to condense the story of Friday the 13th for the Athosian children. His attempt had only earned him puzzled looks and a question about hockey. I suppressed a chuckle at the memory and carried on.

As we approached the area where I had left Kiryk and Thoren with my two guests, I slowed down to keep pace with Halling.

"I'll be honest, Halling: nothing I could say could prepare you for what I'm going to show you. All I'm going to ask is that you don't panic." I said patiently. Halling looked at me, and in his eyes I saw fear, but also trust. I had never let him down before, and never given him reason to doubt my word. He would follow and do his best.

"I will remain calm, Captain. These beings must be quite impressive." he said.

"Not quite the word I would have used, but that's just me." I grunted.

Finally we came over the ridge beyond which I had left the two Autobots and the rest of my team. Halling froze as he saw the two towering machines. I put one hand on his shoulder.

"Remember what I said." I told him in as strong a voice as I could. The two Autobots had shifted position. Flareup was now sitting cross-legged on the ground while Bulkhead stood next to her. Now, together, they looked up at us from the bottom of the ridge, Flareup with interest, Bulkhead with indifference.

"Ancestors protect us!" Halling gasped.

"Yeah, don't I wish," I muttered, then went on a little more loudly, "Halling, meet Bulkhead, the big green guy, and Flareup, who's a sort of medic for her people." Halling didn't appear hear me, even as I pointed to the two Autobots while naming them. He was too engrossed with the GIANT ROBOTS at the bottom of the ridge. With a suggestive nudge, I got him to follow me down the slope to stand in front of the two enormous Cybertronians. Flareup squinted at us.

"Who is this?" she asked inquisitively. Halling flinched.

"Oh, right, sorry. I sent them our language files so we could understand each other." I apologized. I gazed up at the Autobot medic.

"This is Halling. He speaks for the people of New Athos. If I'm going to let you stay here, you need his approval." I said firmly. Flareup nodded her head.

"I see. Then let me be first to offer my sincerest apologies, on behalf of all Cybertronians, for disturbing your people. We have no wish to impose ourselves on you, but as it stands, we have nowhere to go." she said to Halling, who was still standing in open-mouthed shock at the enormous machine. Finally, a semblance of reason kicked a neuron in his brain and he managed to respond.

"O-on behalf of the Athosian people, I welcome you to our world." he stuttered. I had never seen Halling so caught off guard. Now I wondered if bringing him to meet the Autobots had been a bad idea.

"Thank you." Flareup responded. Halling appeared to find another reserve of self-control and courage and asked a question.

"I must ask…are you enemies of the Wraith?" he inquired. This earned him a confused look.

"Your…ally, Captain Ford has told us nothing of any incorporeal being." she answered. The air immediately choked with bafflement until I intervened.

"I'm sorry, there's been a bit of miscommunication here." I said apologetically, wanting to slap myself for not doing this sooner, "Halling, in answer to your question, they're not enemies of the Wraith-"

Halling immediately turned to me, his mouth open to protest until I finished my sentence.

"-because they've never met the Wraith. They don't even know who the Wraith are. They just arrived in this galaxy a couple weeks or so ago. Elizabeth was preparing another information package about the Pegasus galaxy, but she hasn't finished yet. "I hastily finished before violence could erupt.

"I do not understand. Are they are from your galaxy?" Halling asked, his face the very definition of befuddlement.

"I don't…think so. At least if they are, I don't know about it. My galaxy's a big place and when I left we'd barely scratched the surface. Something tells me that's a no, though." I went on hesitantly.

Suddenly, Flareup closed her eyes and seemed to stop paying attention. Bulkhead assumed an equally sudden blank stare. Then, just as it had begun, it stopped. Flareup opened her eyes and refocused those blinding blue eyes of hers on Halling and I once more.

"I believe you are correct, Captain. Cybertron is not among the stars of the Milky Way." she said. Now it was my turn to be confused.

"How-?" I started before Flareup cut me off.

"Your ship's A.I., Dr. Weir, has just transmitted the information package you spoke of. It has already been distributed amongst us and I have begun to absorb its contents." she said calmly. I looked over at Thoren, who was already hastily accessing his tablet. For the umpteenth time, I missed the old ear-radio I had worn as part of the Atlantis Expedition, and felt a desire for something similar that would let me yell at Elizabeth for not informing me in advance.

"And you were able to figure out the position of your home that fast?" I asked. I almost expected a condescending response like 'Yes, can't you?' from the grin she wore, but got the opposite instead.

"I'm not a master mathematician or astrophysicist, but I feel confident enough to say that yes, our world is a long way from your own." she answered politely. She paused for a moment before continuing.

"I can also say that, in generality, we are enemies of these…Wraith." she finished. Her face took on an expression of disgust.

"Can I assume from your expression that you just found out why they're my enemy too?" I asked.

"By the Allspark…" she muttered, now looking down at Halling in pity. She stood, and then knelt on one knee before him. To his credit, he didn't flinch…much.

"I am so sorry for what your people have suffered. As a sworn protector of life in all its forms, I can solemnly say that if we had known before coming here, we would have made your fight our own." she said sadly. Bulkhead grunted in disapproval at this.

"I don't know about that. We've got enough problems as it is." he muttered, but shut up when Flareup glared at him. Halling bowed his head.

"I thank you…Flareup. But you were not to know. The Wraith have preyed on my people for generations, but with the help of Captain Ford and those allied with him, we have been able to beat them back for the first time in millennia. It is because of him this world is safe from them." Halling said. He paused for a moment, and then seemed to think of something else to say.

"You say you have difficulties of your own. If I am to bring the idea of letting you remain on our world before the village council, then I would know what these difficulties are." he said. Flareup, who seemed to be doing all the talking, nodded solemnly.

"Very well. We came here by accident. Our homeworld is lost to us and our only means of travel, the ship that we crashed in, is unsalvageable. We were on a mission seeking this:" she said. She reached up, tapped the side of her head and activated the same eye-projectors that Omega Supreme had used. The image of the Allspark flashed into existence, making Halling jump in fright. As he recomposed himself, he leaned forward to touch the glittering cube and seemed astonished by the way his fingers simply passed through the construct of light.

"This is the Allspark. It was lost to us many of your generations ago. Without it, our planet, Cybertron is dying. If we do not find it in time, then our world will cease to exist." The image of the cube winked out as the hologram disengaged. Halling took a moment to recuperate from the display before returning his attention to Flareup.

"You wish to search the galaxy for this Allspark?" he asked.

"Yes. If you will allow us to use your world as a base of operations and lend us the use of your…'Star-Gate', then our search will progress more quickly." Flareup explained. A feeling that had begun in the back of my skull when she had talked about the Allspark finally nudged me and put itself into words.

"Of course there are some dangers involved…" I growled. Halling glanced over at me.

"Dangers?" he asked. Flareup's face assumed an expression of mild embarrassment.

"Yeah, see she left out the fact that her people aren't the only ones looking for this Allspark thing." I grunted. Flareup nodded in shame.

"The Captain is right. I should warn you against the dangers of taking us in, but you must understand: we are desperate." she began.

"Give the man the whole damn story." I growled. In a way, I was glad to see my suspicions were not unfounded. No one was all-perfect and noble, not even these Autobots. I could respect someone willing to try to save their people by any means necessary. It was what I would do. But if I was going to share with them they had to be honest.

"We are not the only ones seeking the Allspark. Before it was lost, our people were engaged in a civil war. One side wanted to use the cube to enslave other worlds. My people opposed this goal, and our war tore our world asunder." she said hesitantly. I could see she was sorry about her omission, but also that she didn't want to tell the whole truth out of fear. Understandable? Yes. Acceptable? Like hell.

"The ship out there is a prison ship. Apparently it was under the command of the bad guys, Decepticons they call themselves. It was carrying rebel Decepticons who were locked up for betraying their cause. The guards are all dead, but the surviving prisoners may or may not be a security risk just waiting to happen." I said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. I really wanted to keep these guys here, I did. But denying Halling the right to make an informed decision was only going to destroy my relationship with New Athos if it backfired on me. Halling looked up at the two Autobots in knee-knocking defiance.

"Can you promise that these prisoners will not cause trouble?" he asked sharply. Flareup hesitated, and then bowed her head.

"I cannot." she admitted. Halling's face was a mask of authority.

"Then I cannot let you stay." he said. I detected some sadness in his tone as well. My pity got the better of me and I dug the hole I was in even deeper.

"She can't, but I can." I said firmly. That earned me two concerned looks.

"I have a ship with superior technology and the power to fire drones anywhere on this planet. I'm pretty sure that's a good incentive to behave. Of course, I don't know much about them, so I'll need someone to counsel me in my decisions. If you can provide someone, I can ensure that this planet stays safe...for both of you." I said to Flareup and Halling. The two looked at each other and I could almost sense their thoughts. I did my best to radiate trustworthiness.

"If you are willing to take the responsibility, then I will take this before the Council." Halling said. Flareup paused.

"I do not know you…but I will trust you. I will talk with my Admiral. It is up to her, but I have a feeling she will take any help she can get." the Autobot finally said.

"Good. If that's settled then I need to go. I have been running on two hours of sleep, and I will deal with this tomorrow, if that's alright with you Halling." I said to the Athosian leader, who nodded respectfully. I looked at Flareup and Bulkhead.

"Can I trust you to abide by this agreement?" I asked.

"We will bring your terms to the Admiral. If she agrees then matters will be settled. Also, you are still welcome to investigate our ship's interior." Bulkhead said, breaking his long silence. I nodded.

"Alright then," I said, stifling a yawn, "I'll be back in the morning. I assume you can both find your way back?" The two parties nodded.

"Good. Then I will see you back here tomorrow." I said.


	6. Chapter 5: Sunday Morning Stroll

Chapter 5: Sunday Morning Stroll

When I woke the next morning on the _Ascension_, everything was a haze. I dimly remembered giant robots and agreeing to a tour of a crashed ship, but nothing else registered until Elizabeth appeared in hologram form in my quarters while I was eating breakfast.

"Sleep well?" she asked nonchalantly. I grunted. That was about all I was capable of. In spite of the exciting events of the last night, I had slept like a rock and now, waking up, I still felt like one.

"I've been talking with all our guests." she said conversationally.

"Didn't know you could hold that many conversations at once." I mumbled. I was eating the Athosian equivalent of oatmeal. It stuck to the roof of my mouth and tasted like glue. What I wouldn't give for waffles.

"They're a fascinating people. I'm already on personal speaking terms with quite a few of them. Did you know they have social relationships a lot like ours?" she went on, causing me to almost choke on the thick, oat-filled concoction.

"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" she asked, giving me a smartass smile.

"You've been listening to robot gossip?" I finally gasped, spitting out some dislodged oatmeal.

"Oh, it's a little more than that. I'm learning new things about them all the time! Apparently lineage is important to quite a few of them, though not in the way it is to humans. They don't stand on their ancestors. They try to outdo them."

"How forward-looking of them." I grumbled.

"Well I've examined their technology. It's not half-bad. On a par with the Hidden at least, though I'd say our secretive friends have a leg up on application." she went on.

"Yeah, they are pretty ingenious" I admitted.

The Hidden were the best kept secret in the galaxy. They had existed in near perfect solitude for millennia, with only the occasional stranger wandering across them. Their technology was extremely formidable and they had a love of, no, an obsession with knowledge, in every imaginable shape and form. They valued creativity and enlightenment with a zeal I had yet to see anywhere else. The only problem was that there were so few of them, too few to be of any consequence to the Wraith, even with their power.

When I had found some of them in the mountain monastery on Xaer, they had taught me to control my addiction to the Wraith Feeding Enzyme which had nearly been my downfall during the first days of my self-imposed exile. Because of that, I was in eternal debt to them. Not literally, like some cultural thing, just in general. They had saved me from myself, and set me on my quest of self-discovery.

"So now what?" Elizabeth asked conversationally, after an extended pause.

"Well, did Halling call back?" I asked. Elizabeth's holographic persona looked up at the ceiling as if trying to recall the answer. Whenever she appeared like this, she was dressed in a Lantean Officer's uniform, all prim, starched white with an extended sort of skirt, plus a really high collar she had added herself. Her curly hair never seemed to move in time with her movements either. All in all, the effect was blinding. She radiated one-hundred percent keen like a sterile, hospital-white beacon of efficiency.

"Yes, he did." she said after a couple seconds, "And he said that after a lot of talking and calling on people to trust you, he said managed to get the Athosian council to agree to share space with the Autobots so long as they don't get in the way of any hunting parties."

I tried not to burst out laughing.

"I'm pretty sure they're going to need to look hard for fresh game. The impact, not to mention the fighting, must've scared off every deer and elk and piece of meat for twenty miles or more!" I chuckled.

"Which means we might need to bargain for more supplies sooner than you thought." Elizabeth said, cutting off my laughter. I cursed myself for my stupidity. She was right. Autumn was when the deer were out in force and their meat was being cured to protect against the coming winter.

"Well…shit." I said at last.

"Uh-huh." Elizabeth said, obviously annoyed with my previous laughter in the face of such a dire situation.

"Ok, ok, fine. The _Hydra_ and the _Delphi_ are officially for sale, then, them and the various collapsing wrecks that I found them with, so we can boost the price." I grumbled.

"Oh, and our new Autobot friends called back to agree to our terms and to remind you of their offer to take part in exploring the wreck's database." Elizabeth added.

That got my attention. I remembered the amnesiac ex-Decepticon, (what was her name…Deadfall) and her desperation. It was pretty clear that whatever had taken her memory had been on that ship. What's more, that ship had been in the Pegasus galaxy already when the Autobots attacked it. If it was really a Decepticon ship, and it wasn't here just by coincidence (something I had long ceased to believe in), that could mean there were more, which would be bad news ALL OVER.

"You know, there's something I wanted to ask you, Aiden…" Elizabeth said.

"Oh?" I replied.

"If this turns out to be a can of worms…how are we going to deal with it? I mean, we've been fighting the Wraith for years, right back to the moment we arrived in this galaxy, and despite everything, and possibly because of it, we're pretty good at it. But how do we deal with giant alien robots?" she said. We sat in silence for a while as I finished the horrible oatmeal.

"I don't know." I said finally. But as she opened her mouth to reply, I rose, taking the bowl and sticky spoon in hand and held up a cautioning finger.

"YET." I added, and went to clean my things.

I gathered my team once more, rousing Thoren and Lennann from sleep using the ship's public announcement system. Kiryk was already awake, having gotten much more sleep than me the night before. He always seemed fully rested when I saw him, even when he hadn't slept for a day and a half. He had probably adapted to life without sleep while he was a Runner. He was also fortunately a very light sleeper which had saved me from at least one throat-slitting that I could remember.

I hurried them to Bay 4, where I had landed the Puddlejumper last night. It was a task I did not want to repeat without a certain amount of sleep. Finding the damn thing again in the woods had only been possible with Kiryk's tracking skills, and then flying back to base had been even harder, given my lack of focus from exhaustion. Now though I was more prepared and informed.

"Tell me again why we're going back?" Thoren asked as we made our way across the deck of the hangar.

"Well, two reasons actually." I said, boots ringing with every step on the enormous floor, "You're going to stay in the village and I'm going to send a suitably inoffensive ambassador to meet the Athosians and present as non-threatening an image as possible. Also, I want you to keep everyone in the village for now, because until I work out the details of this little agreement, I want to avoid any…incidents." I said.

"What, babysitting?" Thoren sneered, "Is that what you think of me?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I trust you to handle the villagers and see to it no one gets any ideas. It's very important." I said in a deadpan voice.

"But-", Thoren began.

"No buts. Do you really want some unfortunate hunting party crossing paths with our new friends unprepared?" I shot back. Thankfully, that shut him up. I enjoyed Thoren's enthusiasm in situations like this, but to be honest, sometimes it could mess with his judgment.

"Right. Kiryk and I are going to meet with Elita One again and presumably, we're going to crawl through the bowels of that enormous wreck of a ship. It should be a wonderful trust-building exercise." I said. My three companions just gave me blank stares.

"Never mind." I grumbled, and strode into the Jumper.

It didn't take long to make our way back down to the planet, landing in an area much closer to the Cybertronian 'camp' this time after dropping off Lennann and Kiryk in the village to prepare everyone. The Autobots had apparently begun to clear away the fallen trees. I had no idea why, and decided to make it a point to ask Elita, along with my other major concern, one that I had thought of while preparing to leave.

As I had donned my coat and my gloves once more, my mind had wandered back to the brief encounter with the rebel Decepticon named Deadfall the previous night. Her story had been rattling around in my head and it was only when I placed it in conjunction with the words of Elita that warning bells had started to go off.

She had said that she and her people had arrived in the Pegasus nearly four-thousand years ago, which begged the question: where were they all now? The guards and crew of the prison ship couldn't have been all of them. A nasty feeling was beginning to take shape, growing more cohesive now as I trudged through the woods full of morning mist, that Elita been making an assumption when she told me that the Cybertronians now on this planet were the only ones in the galaxy. Deadfall's story seemed to add another dimension to this puzzle. There was only one way to get to the bottom of it, and in my experience, that was to charge in with caution.

As Kiryk and I marched towards the camp, the trees immediately began to thin out. By the time we had gotten to the actual camp, the trees were all but gone and the 'camp' was now a large clearing with holes where trees had apparently been uprooted entirely. As I came closer, an Autobot nearly thirty-five feet tall, armored in gray and built like the strongest woman I had ever seen plus a long tail with a jagged, bladed tip and limbs almost as thick as the trees she was carrying strode past. She had two pines, one on each shoulder, kept from swinging unnecessarily by a set of what looked like four huge fins which I realized were parts of an aircraft's wings by their shape. And she was a 'she', I was pretty certain…you could tell by the shape of the chest and some other distinctive feminine features.

As she strode past us on enormous metal legs, she glanced down at us briefly and then simply carried on. That reaction confused me a bit until I remembered that the Autobots and Decepticons had both been traveling the universe for thousands of years. They must've met far stranger looking creatures than me on their quest.

Another thing I noticed, which I had failed to see last night, was that while the Autobots came in all shapes and sizes, none were larger than Omega Supreme. He was easy to spot, though his outline took a little while to recognize, given I had only seen him in the dark, while sitting. He loomed over his fellow Cybertronians, at a height of what must've been sixty or sixty-five feet, a towering behemoth that made the earth move a little whenever he shifted. Near his feet I recognized the somewhat smaller form of Elita One. She was surrounded by other Autobots, perhaps her officers, perhaps friends. I had no way of knowing, despite Elizabeth's claim to having spoken with all of them. She hadn't told me anything, though to be fair, I hadn't asked.

As I came closer, moving amidst the milling giants (all of whom paid me just enough attention to avoid stepping on me) she must've spotted me, because she made some moves that suggested she was adjourning the meeting. The Autobots around her split up and moved off into the camp, in ones and twos and threes. When I was at her feet, I craned my neck back and looked up at her.

"Hello, Captain." she said.

"Hello, Admiral. I couldn't help but wonder why your people don't seem to be paying much attention to me. Also, what's with the deforesting project?" I asked.

"Your A.I. contacted many of us and spoke at length in an attempt to build some further friendship and understanding in your absence. She was most agreeable. As for my people, we have learned to be most accommodating to other life-forms and not to 'stare and gawk' as I believe your Dr. Weir would put it." the admiral explained. Then she spread her arms to encompass the work happening around us.

"As for the removal of the plant life, do not be disturbed. We are simply conducting damage control and constructing a short-term settlement. Most of my people are already up and running, having been salvaged from the wreck. The rest are being allowed to recharge. They fought hard to take that ship." she finished.

"Recharge?" I asked. Elita lowered her arms and laced her fingers together.

"I suppose best analogy would be something similar to a combination of your actions of sleeping and perhaps eating. We must enter a state of recharge to allow our bodies to regenerate from the wear and tear of functioning. At the same time, we use a little more of our internal Energon reserves to do this. Our Energon is what keeps us alive and every Autobot is born with a certain amount. Once is gone, so are we." Elita explained. That was an enormous shock.

"Are you saying you can actually die of old age?" I asked. It probably wasn't very polite, but it was such an insane concept…

"After a fashion; we can extend our lives by injecting more Energon to stave off the effects of entropy, and even then, our average lifespan is hundreds of thousands of your years. We live long and prosperous lives…most of us anyway." she looked down at me and smiled a little sorrowful smile.

"I suppose the best example is your own body. From the information your Dr. Weir provided, the human physiology has a limited capacity to self-regenerate. Once that capacity is exhausted, you begin to decay and die, just as we do. Without sufficient Energon, we begin to rust and fall apart. It is simply the way things are." she said sadly.

"That's…interesting." I said cautiously, thoroughly I was, in truth, thoroughly intrigued. Normally I had a complete aversion to science, but the idea of machines that could age, reproduce and which had to sleep was fascinating...in the same way that sex is fascinating when you first begin to understand it. It was weird and possibly fun, though still sort of unattractive.

"I take it you are here to accompany me and one or two of my fellow Autobots in our retrieval of the ship's data stores." Elita continued, interrupting my train of thought.

"Yes." I said quickly, perhaps too quickly, but to be honest I was still getting used to being around GIANT ROBOTS.

"I was just discussing my plans for future operations in this galaxy with my crew. I have already selected two of my best to accompany us." she explained.

"Before we go, I was wondering if you could get that ex-Decepticon from last night to come with us. She spent who-knows-how-long on that ship. She could probably be of some help." I answered, preparing myself for a possibly violent reaction. Elita narrowed her eyes.

"I would advise against it, Captain." she answered, "The Decepticons possess their name for a reason. I would not place it above her to be lying and planning my assassination."

I rolled my eyes.

"Ok, look. I know there's some very deep history here. Frankly, I understand your position. I've had to deal with double agents before. But right now, she's your only apparent ally among these prisoners. I didn't see any other Decepticons come forward to offer their help." I replied. The Admiral's eyes narrowed further.

"You do not understand Captain. Her brother was Starscream, the cowardly little vermin that, as far as I know, currently controls the Decepticons." she growled.

"To hear her tell it, it sounds like she doesn't like her brother. And if she's telling the whole truth, Starscream's only got most of the Decepticons on his side. And there's still the question of what she was doing on that ship." I shot back. This elicited a look of doubt from the Autobot Admiral. It was clear that she too had many questions. But did she have enough to give Deadfall the benefit of the doubt? My answer came soon after.

"I will bring Deadscream with us, and two more Autobots to keep an eye on her." Elita decided. Then she beckoned to me and Kiryk.

"Come, I will bring you to her."

We strode across the camp and in between the Autobots, all of whom were hard at work building what now looked like a fence out of the felled trees, one to encompass their camp. Elita actually had to slow down for Kiryk and me to keep pace. When you're thirty feet tall, you can cover a lot of ground fast just by walking. We eventually came to where Deadfall must've been set to be held.

I only say that because at first, I couldn't see her amidst the Autobots encircling her. The blue-eyed Cybertronians were standing in a ring around her, and the wrists of her two main arms were roped together with steel cable probably salvaged from the ship. She was sitting cross-legged, which was a feat of flexibility considering that most Autobots actually didn't have that much bendiness in their forms. A lot of them even had faces that looked as though they'd be hard-pressed to express emotions. As we came closer, one of the Autobot guards, whom I recognized as Undermine from the day before, broke off from the circle and met us half way.

"Admiral." he said respectfully, "The prisoner has made no attempt to escape. She has been muttering a lot though."

Elita nodded.

"Thank you, Undermine. I would like you to find Cobalt so that you and he may accompany my team and the Captain, and keep an eye on the prisoner. We're bringing her with us." she stated. Undermine nodded slowly as if unsure of his commander, then marched off to do as his Admiral had ordered.

We then proceeded to the circle of guards and entered it. Deadfall looked the same as she had last night, though she had acquired a couple of dents that must've come from overenthusiastic guarding. Elita did not appear to notice them. As we finally came in reach, Deadfall looked up, her visor-covered face rising to meet the image of myself and Elita.

"I asked several times to see you. They didn't listen." she said coldly.

"Why should they? You're a prisoner." Elita stated firmly.

"A prisoner who's trying to be helpful; I asked to see you because I believe my memory is beginning to return. ", the ex-Decepticon snapped.

"And?" Elita said dryly.

"I remember a name...the name of the planet where we took shelter from the organics that rule this galaxy after coming here." she answered, then paused before finishing, "Vector Sigma."

"I see." Elita said, "And nothing else has come to you in the night?"

"Only the human A.I., as it has to all the survivors of this crash." Deadfall mumbled. She glanced briefly at me with that blank mask of hers and I got a feeling of curiosity from her. That was new. The Cybertronians I had passed seemed to mostly look down on me, not just physically, but mentally as well. I suppose it had to do with them knowing how primitive most humans were. It was actually pretty annoying, and it was only a scant few like Elita who radiated goodwill or interest.

"Well, if that's all, then you'll be coming with me." Elita said. Deadfall, whose head had begun to sink, looked up sharply.

"You're going to lead us into that wreck and help us siphon through its logs and data. If you help us, then I will think about getting you and yours better treatment."

Deadfall did not appear to respond to this at first, but I got the feeling that there was a struggle going on inside her. Over what, I had no idea. Finally she responded.

"I will do my best to show you that I am not your enemy." she said patiently. Elita merely grunted.

"We shall see."


	7. Chapter 6: Face of the Enemy

Chapter 6: Face of the Enemy

Throughout much of what came next I felt like a bystander. Kiryk and I simply followed as Undermine and Cobalt returned, dragged Deadfall to her feet and led her away behind Elita, with us close behind. At the edge of the camp, we met up with Bulkhead, who was bearing a number of cables and various instruments on his shoulders, and an Autobot I hadn't met before, an anorexically-thin yellowish Cybertronian named Hardwire. When we were assembled and the situation explained, Elita knelt down and offered me her enormous hand.

"There is considerable distance to cover between here and the ship. I would prefer it if you and your companion rode on my shoulders, Captain, if it's alright with you." she said. I hesitated. Looking at her shoulders, I could see that falling off would not be a problem. There were plenty of extrusions to hold onto. The primary problem was they all looked sharp. But I figured it would be dumb to refuse, given that we would move a lot faster, and that when I got back to Atlantis…someday, I could brag that I had ridden on the shoulder of a giant robot.

"I'd be honored." I said, and did my best to step onto her hand with some grace. Kiryk didn't immediately follow, and I had to glare at him to get him to do so. His continuing mistrust of the Cybertronians was perfectly understandable, given that we had nothing but their word that they wouldn't do us harm. However, I should've probably told him that being standoffish and acting stubborn and slightly xenophobic would do more harm than good.

The enormous Autobot raised us to her shoulders and we each stepped onto them. Kiryk took the right shoulder and I took the left. I couldn't help but picture all the cartoons of my youth where Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny and other Looney Toons had been confronted with their shoulder-angel and shoulder-devil. And here I was, on the shoulders of a giant robotic female alien. Suddenly the idea of bragging didn't seem so enjoyable.

We made quick progress after that, and I held on as best I could. I was happy to discover that Elita wasn't as sharp as she looked from the ground. Like Merry and Pippin on the shoulders of Treebeard, Kiryk and I clung to our metal carrier as we moved at a fast, clanking jog through the forest. Happily none of the trees had branches determined to unseat us, as I didn't fancy ending my career not only dying away from Atlantis, but dying the ridiculous death of being smacked off the shoulders of a giant robot by a tree branch and plummeting to break every bone in my body.

Eventually the trees, which were already thin this close to the crash site, vanished entirely, leaving only the splinters and scorched earth associated with the land surrounding the trench created by a meteor strike. As soon as we left the trees behind, I saw, in all its sundered glory, the wreck of the Decepticon prison ship.

The thing was huge, quite possibly the size of one and a half Wraith Cruisers. Its port side towered above even the Autobots, easily thirty stories tall, perhaps more. It would have to be, I speculated, in order to contain such a race of giants and, if Deadfall was correct, scientific facilities, not to mention a variety of other things. As we closed on the rear and the titanic engines, Deadfall spoke up.

"There's a hatch on the port side, an airlock if I'm right. It leads to an elevator shaft that connects with the internal transport system. If any of that is intact, we can get to the bridge, where you'll be free to siphon to your spark's content." she said. Elita turned and gave her a suspicious look.

"Interesting that you remember the design of this ship so well…" she said. Deadfall shrugged.

"It just came to me. I suppose seeing related images must be helping my memory circuits to restore themselves." Deadfall answered, apparently ignoring the subtle hostility in Elita's voice. Elita simply remained silent and we continued on. Soon we were right alongside the behemoth, which had left a short, but prodigious trail just behind it and broke its skidding travel along the surface by smashing into the cliffs that served as the walls of the valley. It was a marvel that the ship hadn't hit the cliffs on the opposite side on the way in.

The narrowness of the valley made it hard for Wraith Darts to maneuver efficiently and the cliffs that fronted the mountains on either side were honeycombed with caves and possible refuges. The thick forest also served as a defense against culling beams. It was made to provide a number of options for those fleeing the Wraith.

The hatch in question soon became apparent. There was a large hexagonal door on the ribbed belly of the vessel. It was more or less even with the ground and sealed tight. Elita turned once again to Deadfall and crossed her arms, indicating that she should open it and forcing Kiryk and I to move or be dislodged.

Deadfall simply raised her bound hands in supplication. Elita couldn't roll her eyes, but I got the feeling that if she could, she would have. She raised one arm and changed it. Her forearm extended a long thin blade. She then walked over and grabbed the ex-Decepticon's bonds and with a *shling*, sliced them in two. Then she held the blade up to Deadfall's mask.

"One false move..." she warned her, then retracted the blade and stepped back. Under the mask, I imagined Deadfall having a reproachful look as she stepped forward and began to manipulate the surface of the hexagonal door.

"Should we get down?" I asked Elita casually. She waved one hand.

"I would prefer you stay where you are, Captain. We still have a ways to go." she answered. There was a click, and then a clank as Deadfall finished whatever she was doing. The hexagonal aperture slid open with the grinding groan of enormous bunker doors everywhere. It split into six parts whose triangular sections folded themselves into thinner triangles twice, then folded inwards to line the sides of the newly revealed corridor which was pitch black save for red emergency lighting.

"Power is at a minimum, it appears. I have a suspicion the crash damaged the energy distribution grid." Deadfall said. As Captain of a highly advanced spaceship, I had had to learn some technobabble myself to get by. It had served me well when Elizabeth was trying to explain why we couldn't blow up a crippled Hive Ship that had apparently done very little damage to us in return.

"It doesn't matter. So long as the doors to the bridge still work we won't need much power." Bulkhead grunted, and clomped on in. I leaned behind Elita's head and gave Kiryk a glance behind her back. He looked pretty unperturbed, despite riding on the shoulders of a giant robot. He did check his arm-mounted teleporter though, which showed he was trying to be prepared.

Elita was the first to follow Bulkhead, with Hardwire close behind her. Cobalt came next along with Deadfall and Undermine, the ex-Decepticon once more standing between them. As we were borne deeper into the reddish gloom, Elita drew level with Bulkhead and turned her head a little in my general direction.

"Captain, up until now, I must admit I have not told you everything about what happened on this ship. It may have been to allay your suspicions and to tell the truth, my own as well, but now I can no longer deny that something is wrong." she said to me.

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked, caught off guard by that sudden admission.

"This ship, ", Elita said, gesturing to our surroundings, ", is far more advanced than it should be. When we first attacked, it tried to protect itself with an energy barrier similar to the ones your ship's A.I. told us your Ancestors used on their own vessels, a technology we do possess, but have never applied on such a large scale. Furthermore, the weapons of this ship were more advanced and destructive than anything our own vessel possessed."

After a pause in which I tried to figure out what this might mean, Elita continued.

"I do not know what this means, save that it cost me my ship and many of my crew, but it seems to me there is more going on here than meets the eye." she finished. I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything except: "Well I suppose things will make more sense when we find the logs."

Elita's face took on concerned look.

"I sincerely hope you are right, Captain." she muttered.

We continued along the corridor, which, while mostly hexagonal, seemed skewed, and not just because of the angle of the ship in relation the ground. Perhaps the superstructure had been torqued out of shape by the impact or something. It didn't stop us from making our way to the maintenance shaft though.

The structure in question was a cylindrical shaft like a big pipe running from the floor to the ceiling, with an opening on one side for occupants. An idea popped into my head.

"Tell me," I asked in my best polite tone, ", the big guy, Omega Supreme. How did he get on this ship, I can see it's built to accommodate most of your people, but I really don't see him squeezing through here…"

"Omega Supreme is the last of the true giants among our kind. His elder brother, Fortress Maximus, fell in the Battle of Metroplex on Cybertron. Being as large as he is, he subsisted on the hull of our vessel until we transferred to this one." Elita said, before stepping into the elevator shaft first, followed by Bulkhead, who began to manipulate what I assumed was the control panel.

"So he lived on the outside of your ship? Sounds kind of dangerous…" I said. Elita smiled.

"Not for him." she said. Then she turned her head a little to get me in her field of view.

"I can see there is much you wish to know about our people. While I am happy to explain, I must tell you I am not the best qualified to answer them. In fact, much of our scientific knowledge, planetary history and cultural identity have been lost in the quest to find the Allspark." she said, as the rest of the crew joined us in the elevator. There was a clank as Hardwire stepped in last and Bulkhead stepped back from the panel, his equipment clattering around him. The door slid closed we stood together in the dim red light as the elevator rose with a nasty clanking. It went on like that for five minutes and before I could think of a sympathetic response to Elita's revelation, the elevator stopped and opened.

Outside was a very large hallway that seemed to stretch on a long way. It was only slightly better lit, as it had a sort of sporadic fluorescent illumination lining it sides. Most of the units that were giving off the light were broken and dead, leaving large portions of the hall in darkness. The hallway itself was made up of three stepped levels on each side. We were on the second level of the port side, and the roof of the corridor was ribbed, like standing in the belly of an enormous ribcage. In front of us, directly opposite the elevator, the walkway had a trapezoidal extrusion which allowed access to a tram, a large, coffin-shaped platform with rails, supported by one mechanical arm which fastened it to a rail that was part of the rib structure on the ceiling.

"Let me guess," I said, looking at it, "Internal Transportation?" Elita nodded and I had to grab one of her magenta shoulder spikes to keep from falling off.

"A bit different from Autobot design, but basically the same. If my guess is right, this is the Primary Access Corridor. It runs the length of the vessel and can take us straight to the Bridge." she answered. She glanced over at Deadfall, who said nothing in response.

We boarded the tram one by one, with Kiryk and me still sitting on the shoulders of the Autobot Admiral. I took a tighter hold on her body structure in preparation for the tram's motion. It was a good move. As soon as Cobalt, Undermine and their charge were onboard, Bulkhead manipulated some extremely large controls at the front of the vehicle, causing it to judder into motion. As the transport whined along its supporting rail, it also began to pick up speed. We hurtled past meter after meter of identical stretches of corridor. Well, identical except for the blast damage…and the bodies.

Large robotic corpses and severed limbs, mostly humanoid, lay scattered throughout the chamber. Their eyes were all dark and dead, preventing me from using my red-eye/blue-eye method of distinguishing them as Autobot or Decepticon. I made sure to add that to the list of questions I planned to ask Elita at some point. Why would both sides be distinguished by eye-color?

Eventually, we began to slow, our transport screeching like a subway car as we did. It stopped with a hiss at the end of the hallway, which was simply a blank wall with doors for each of the three levels of walkway on either side of the hall. We disembarked in silence and approached the door on our level. It was complex and reminded me of a wooden Chinese puzzle, sliding apart in six sections diagonally. Beyond was another corridor filled with the same dim red lighting of the maintenance shaft.

Suddenly, Bulkhead held up a hand for everyone to stop, which they did. He fumbled with the equipment and wires he had draped all over himself and pulled out a mysterious device which was flashing a light green.

"What is it?" I asked. Bulkhead grunted.

"The power output of the primary core just increased. Not by much, but enough to set off my detectors. ", he explained after a few more seconds with the device.

"I thought we were on minimal power." Elita said.

"We were. We're the only ones on this ship according to my sensors, so I can only suspect that it's an automated system or a malfunction. I can correct it from the bridge." he answered.

"Very well…let's keep moving." Elita said, giving Deadfall a suspicious look. We pressed on, moving faster now. Inside the hall, a ramp to our right led up to another ramp leading forward to a chamber with more neutral lighting, the kind I had once seen on the _Prometheus_ on Earth. This led to a small chamber that served as an intersection for several hallways. Only two had an open door and only one of those doors was large enough to merit being the entrance to the bridge. The chamber beyond it certainly looked like it was the bridge too.

"We have arrived." Deadfall said grimly.

It turned to Elita's head and tapped it.

"Can you put me down now?" I asked as politely as I could. She craned her neck to look at me and held up one huge hand. I stepped into her palm and allowed her to lower me to the ground. Then she did the same for Kiryk. Then together, we entered the ship's nerve center.

The bridge was a colossal room, scaled to fit the enormous proportions of the beings who had built it. It was a long chamber, a sort of corridor stretching forward with trenches on either side, lined with consoles and what looked like seats for enormous operators. The chamber terminated in a hexagonal cul-de-sac, a station with trapezoidal windows all around, affording an excellent view of the mountain side. The clear material obviously wasn't glass. It wasn't even scratched by the impact the ship had taken.

I whistled and heard an echo, then cursed myself for doing so. This whole ship had felt like tomb, or perhaps a torture chamber, long unused, but its instruments agony still coated with the reddish-brown stains of past victims. Together, Elita, Bulkhead, Kiryk, Deadfall and I advanced down the long walkway that bisected the room.

"You know, I get the feeling we're not wanted here. It's like the ship hates us." I said quietly. Kiryk grunted in agreement. We came to the hexagonal cul-de-sac sooner than I had expected. There was an enormous chair in the center of the structure. Both armrests were equipped with spiny-looking protrusions whose tips were glowing with a grey light. In the chair lay an enormous Decepticon, quite clearly dead. A huge hole had been blasted in his chest and something had bashed his head in with, it looked like, his own arm. Bulkhead simply stepped around him, loops of cable under one arm. Hardwire followed closely.

At that moment, Deadfall shivered briefly, and I saw her stance change. Without warning, she lunged forward for one of the large consoles. Cobalt and Undermine tried to follow her, but by the time they caught up with her, she had already reached one of the glowing controls and was manipulating. Cobalt grabbed her by her upper body and dragger her back while she scrabbled at the controls, trying to hang on. It wasn't enough of course. When Cobalt had her in something like a nelson, Undermine seized her wrist in a grip that was clearly painful. She cringed back and tried to remove the Autobot's hand.

"What do you think you are doing, Decepticon?" the big blue bot growled.

"Shut off the communication! Shut it off!" she whimpered. Undermine looked at Elita, who shook her head. This seemed to be enough authorization for the two Autobot guards to seize Deadfall and drag her back to where Elita stood.

"We'll have the data in no time." Bulkhead said professionally as if nothing had happened.

I stepped up to the dead 'Con while Deadfall continued to wriggle in the very secure custody of her guards and Hardwire and Bulkhead busied themselves with the mostly shattered control panels nearby.

"Well, at least there's nothing here to stop us." I said with a false joviality.

"Nothing alive, at least." Kiryk muttered in reply.

What happened next would haunt me forever. Long after all the things that came later were over, I would still think back to what happened in that control room and shudder in horror. Until then, I had fought many foes, chiefly the Wraith, and I thought I knew something about evil. What happened next showed me how wrong I was.

The bridge's speakers, or whatever it was Cybertronians used instead, began to moan. There was a crackling noise like static, all sorts of electronic noise that began to coalesce. In it I could hear voices, thousands of voices, tens of thousands, maybe even millions, all whispering, speaking. Some were laughing, others were babbling. The sound had a profound effect on Deadfall. She shrieked in what was clearly terror and tried to cover herself with her arms, which were being held by Undermine.

The countless voices coalesced further and some even seemed to speak in sequence, or all together in groups. From the chaotic noise and gibbering, one voice seemed to grow, one syllable in one heavily distorted voice, held there and increasing in volume until it spoke.

"**You are correct. The Cyber-form is dead, in-sect.**" stated the one, comprehensible voice amidst the multitude. There was a crash in the direction of Bulkhead and Hardwire, who had dropped what they were doing in shock. Elita whirled, her right arm reaching back over her shoulder to seize the handle of a massive rifle which she quickly grasped and pulled free, sweeping it around the room for targets even as it assembled in her hands. Cobalt and Undermine released the Decepticon, who collapsed in a swoon, and reached for their own weapons.

"**Are you a-fraid?**" asked the cold, intermittent monotone. Now the countless others were mostly shivering and stuttering into silence. The primary remained though, now beginning to distort even further like a text-to-speech program dealing with someone with bad spelling and grammar along with a broken record and a cassette tape left out in the sun too long.

"Come out!" Elita shouted, pointing the rifle at shadows and possible hiding places.

"**What is it you fear?**" the voice asked, ignoring her, "**The end of your triViAL EXISsstance?**" It was becoming clearer and clearer that whatever was producing the speech was dealing with some very corrupt programming. The thing echoed and reverberated at different pitches and was interspersed with distorted monotones repeating syllables and even other words, layered with a variety of electronic tones and rhythms.

"**W-w-w-wh-whe-wwhen the history of my glory is written, your SPEcieS shall only be a footnote to my MaGNNiFICenCe.**" The hideous voice crackled. Somewhere in the seething mass of shock and terror my mind had become, a question arose and forced its way out before I could stop it.

"Who are you!?" I shouted. My own weapon was in my hand, though I had no memory of drawing it. The panic was clear in my tone and I could feel the fear mixed with shock run through my veins like ice water. There was a pause while the gibbering beeps, repeated/distorted phrases and sporadic monosyllables continued. Then the voice came back, rising as if from the deep of some splintered sub-processor, an echo in reverse, growing louder and more coherent until it became speech.

"**KNEEL.**" It said flatly.

"What-", I started to say. Then my head exploded with pain. There was a ringing, shifting vibration, sliding up and down the distortion scale, a single word howled in a set of frequencies that stuck red-hot rivets in my ears.

"**KNNNNNNEEEEEeEEEeEEEEEeeeeeEeEEeeeEeEEEEELLLLLLLLlLlLlLLLlLllllL!**" shrieked the voice. As I fell to the ground, my hands over my ears, I saw the Autobots doing the same. Whatever this thing was, it was designed to cause agony even to them. Elita, as she sank, Took aim and fired on the Decepticon corpse in the chair while Cobalt and Undermine sprayed the shadows of the bridge with gunfire. The voice exploded into disjointed laughter. It was the most awful sound I had ever heard, like a trillion malevolent, corrupt A.I.s laughing in male and female voices in ways no living throat could hope to duplicate, a cacophony of maniacal amusement. As it faded, the voice took shape again. It rose in volume, a hundred disjointed tones lining up to form three words that rumbled throughout the room and echoed in the speakers. As it spoke, every screen in the bridge began to flicker to life, at first displaying only blackness mixed with grey static. Then the darkness changed, welling up to reveal an enormous head, a Cybertronian visage locked at the center of a vast network of pipes and wires and cables, face that looked only remotely human, with a collection of mandibles for a mouth and one red, cyclopean and terrible eye.

"**I Am SHOCkWAvE.**" it stated coldly.

I've never been one for the idea of evil you can feel. I mean sure the Wraith can make you uncomfortable with their psychic powers, but that was nothing like this. Under that red, merciless gaze that never blinked and never flickered, I felt as though I was being scrutinized by an insane and calculating intellect. It was pure malevolence, that stare. It said that you were a nothing, superfluous, meaningless, less than the lowest form of life, incapable of even beginning to conceive of the vast plots and schemes being contemplated by the mind behind that eye. It said three simple words: **YOU ARE INFERIOR**.

"**My analysis of VAriouS situAtioNal circumsTANces, behavioral recordsss and other variables, suggests a ninety-seven point three-four percent pr-p-pro- prob-probability that you are aware of my b-b-birth of my b-b-birth of my birth on Cybertron and flight i-into exile, bu-but also that you are equally UNaware of my REbirth i-in-to majesty on V-V-Vec-tor Sig-ma.**" the red eyes said in unison. The mouth-like mandibles beneath them did not move with the voice. The countless identical visages were frozen, yetthe wires and various extensions around them pulsed and arced. Lights flowed along some of them in unison, like a heartbeat. I pulled my hands away from my ears. They had blood on them. That was not good. I glanced over at Elita. She was struggling back to her feet, using her rifle as a crutch. The thousands of red eyes shifted just a little to hold her in their gaze.

"**I will a-admit that your arriv-al here was u-u-unexpected, Elita One. B-by coming he-here you have introduced a new e-element to my tO MY eQuaTIons. Thi-this is most unfortunate...but eeeeeasily BuT EaSiLY rectified**" The voice said coldly, seeming to focus its attention on the Autobot Admiral briefly before shifting its calculating intellect and attention to me.

"**This galaxy is a-about to become the sta-stage for two incre-di-ble e-eventsss: the formation of a new e-empire…and the the r-r-rebirth of the Cy-ber-tron-ni-an race. I have labor-ed for over three-thousand of your short, pitifully brief yeeeearrs, insect, a se a se-cret in the silence of this galaxy ruled by verminnn, thinking, preparing…EvOLVinG, all to make m-m-myself ready for what is to come.**" hissed the mutating voice of Shockwave.

It was at this point that I realized that the lights on the consoles around me, in fact all the consoles in the bridge, were beginning to glow, brighter and brighter. A couple exploded in sparks. The images on the holographic screens began to waver. Like an image reflected in an infinity of mirrors that was moving towards reality, I heard a laugh slowly growing from the speakers.

"**If you think me a fool, you are wrong. In truth it is a-aa-aa-a sha-shame…a shame, Elita that you must perish in ignorance of the future that awaits us, and in the company of such a pathetic form of life, no less. You came seeking knowledge…but you will receive only death.**" they cackled in unison. There was a clang which caused me to whirl around. The entrance to the bridge had just sealed and sealed further with the clanking of what sounded like heavy internal locks. The laugh was now growing, and it was degenerating, breaking up into a dozen laughs in different voices. Elita now brought her rifle to bear and opened fire on the door. The enormous tracers it must've fired simple dented the thing, doing nothing to penetrate the enormous barrier. Now a dozen more consoles exploded into sparks. A couple belched flame as they burned out.

"**Rest assured that I do not commit violence without purpose. My plan is manifold. C-consider your d-d-destrRuCtion as simply a pre-precaution, to ensure itssss su-success.**" the voice said. It was breaking up again. The laughter was now an unpleasant overlay. I began to feel a thrumming beneath my feet, not great but enough to cause a certain sense of unease in the bowels.

"**If, b-by some unaccounted vvvv-vvariable, you both survive and find a way to oppose me, I-I-I will provide one, a-and only ****one**** warning.**" The voice of Shockwave stated,"** The odds are stacked against you. If you think to ssstop me, then you deluuuude yourself. There is no beauty in that MEAT you ca-call a body…but, iffff yoouuuu valuuueee thaaat meeeeat…you will do as I tell you…and stay ouuttt of m-m-my way.**"

There was an electronic hissing sound, a burst of static, and the last traces of the hideous noise were gone. One by one the screens all went dark, dissipating as the laughter rose and filled the air, the sound of millions of evil voices raised in triumphant amusement. Then they too went silent, leaving the bridge as silent as a tomb.

Slowly, unsurely, I looked around shivering. Kiryk was wearing a look I had never seen on him before: dread. Fear in the face of an evil too big to shoot or punch into submission. He was out of his depth…hell, I was out of my depth.

"By the Ancestors…" he said, his breath coming out in a wheeze of shock, "What was that?"

Deadfall unsteadily rose to her feet, having remained to a crouching position, hands over her face as the speech had been going on.

"That," said Deadfall, fear present in her every move, "was Shockwave."


	8. Chapter 7: Acts of Sacrifice

Chapter 7: Acts of Sacrifice

The bridge flickered in the intermittent light of the consoles around us, all of which were humming steadily towards overload. Near the rear of the chamber, five of the large control panes exploded in sequence.

Elita slowly lowered her rifle. There was fear on her face as well mixed with confusion.

"That sound…the primary drive core." she said. She raced to one of the consoles and tried to manipulate it, but Hardwire vaulted over several obstacles and pulled her away just as the device burst apart in a shower of sparks. The two shielded their faces, as Elita cursed in what must've been her native language. She whirled to face Deadfall.

"You had something to do with this!" she shouted and raised her rifle, her fear quickly replaced by anger. The other Autobots followed her lead, drawing their own weapons and taking aim. I threw up my hands, waving in desperation.

"Whoa, wait, hey what!" I shouted, "Just wait a second!" My outburst must've startled the Autobot Admiral because she froze just seconds before she could blast Deadfall's head off. I turned to the ex-Decepticon, my head still spinning, but slowing down enough to try and assemble some thoughts.

"Alright, before we all start pointing guns and fingers, let's try and think for a minute." I said in my most reasonable voice. I then pointed to the floor.

"First of all, please explain to me why the floor is starting to purr?" I asked, looking over at Elita, who did not flinch from her position.

"The drive core of the ship is fueled by controlled ionized plasma fusion. I have felt such a sensation only a few times before and it always signals that the ship's fusion chamber is building for a cataclysmic discharge." she growled.

"This thing's going to explode?!" I said.

"In shorter terms, yes." she answered. Her glare never wavered. Deadfall was backed against the console behind her and Bulkhead was giving her a rather unfriendly look as well.

"Ok, so how long do we have?" I said, trying to hurry things along. Something told me that Deadfall was not behind this…at least not directly.

"It depends on the scale of the ship and the reactor. It could be anywhere from a number of minutes to hours." Elita said. I put my hands on my face and pulled them down slowly in exasperation.

"Exactly how big an explosion are we talking about?" I inquired.

"I believe, using your measurements, the detonation of the energy core coupled with the subsequent cook-off of the emergency fuel rods and the space-bridge engine will be enough to generate a blast equal in force to three-thousand megatons. " Elita said. Another console burst into sparks and flame nearby.

In my head, my thoughts were racing. A blast of that magnitude would reshape a reasonable portion of the landscape and produce a dust cloud large enough to encompass an un-reasonable portion of the planet. This was an extinction-level event…and just a couple hours ago I had been eating my morning oatmeal. But that was life in the Pegasus. Things always managed to get worse.

"Okay, so how do we disarm it?" I said, trying to speed things up and keep the Autobots from getting back to the execution at hand. My intuition was telling me that only the ex-Decepticon could help me here. I was right. Bulkhead, who had a massive cannon aimed at Deadfall opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, then paused and shut it, which usually happened when people had something to say but didn't dare say it. Deadfall spoke up in his place however, startling the Autobots, though thankfully not enough to elicit gunfire just yet.

"You have to access the command directory and override the sequence to dump the excess energy into subspace." she said quickly. Then she shivered and took a step back.

"I…I have no idea where that came from." she said, clearly uncomfortable with her own sudden outburst.

"Alright well maybe those hidden memories of yours will help us yet." I said. Then I turned to Elita.

"Admiral, I know I'm not exactly qualified here, but what have you got to lose by letting her try? We're locked in a ship that's about to explode and destroy both of our peoples along with it. The worst she can do is kill us faster." I said. That last comment probably wasn't a good idea, but my words appeared to have the desired effect on the towering Autobot. Slowly, she lowered her rifle and nodded to the other Autobots. After a moment, they too lowered their weapons. Deadfall took the initiative and slowly moved towards one of the few remaining panels. She began to manipulate it, hesitantly at first, and then with increasing proficiency. Soon her fingers on all four arms were flying over the console. She began to mutter too.

"Should've shut down communication, that's how he gets in, have to be careful, can't let your guard down, disengage primary interlock with all systems, disconnect space bridge systems from core, try and slow the process by diverting power…" she mumbled at high speed. A console to my left exploded in sparks and somehow Deadfall managed to speed up even more.

"Oh no you don't you piece of tin from the exhaust vents of the universe, you can't stop me, activate firewalling, corral the virus you can't burn me out of this system…" she babbled. Then the console exploded in her face. She fell backwards, but quickly began to push herself to her feet.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" she howled in frustration. In fury, she kicked the console with one clawed foot and a clang that bent the device's frame. Then she turned to Elita.

"He's injected a virus into the system that's burning out all control interfaces to keep us from escaping. I cut him off and burned out the communications to prevent any further access, but I couldn't stop the overload. I only managed to slow it." she said, talking fast and trying to stay comprehensible at the same time.

"Is there a manual override?" Elita asked, still holding her rifle in a not-totally-unthreatening way. Deadfall remained still for a moment before replying.

"There might be…" she said, "But it's on the other end of the ship. And it's too small for standard access. Only a maintenance drone could operate it." she said.

"These maintenance drones, how big are they?" I asked.

"About your size. They have to be in order to operate the machinery they work…with." she said. She must've realized what I meant to do. Elita must've done the same because she looked at me in concern.

"Captain!" she said quickly, "I cannot ask you to do this!" I brushed her off.

"You're not asking. I'm volunteering." I replied.

"But the conditions you will have to deal with include hazardous radiation and extreme heat! You would not survive long enough to do anything! We caused this, let us deal with it!" she begged.

"Everything I'm wearing is proof against radiation. And in case you've forgotten, those are my people out there about to be vaporized along with yours. This is my problem too." I said flatly. I couldn't see anything behind Deadfall's mask, but I got the distinct feeling amidst her confusion that she was looking at me with a certain amount of admiration. I felt Kiryk's hand on my shoulder.

"I will stand with you, my friend." he said sternly. I shook my head.

"No, you will get out of here and get a message to Elizabeth. Tell her to be prepared to land the Ascension and evacuate the Athosians if necessary. Tell them to try the Stargate too. It's probably the only way we can move all of them out in time if this thing goes South. You're probably not going to have much warning if this thing blows and probably won't be able to get everyone out anyway, but I want you to go just in case." I said. Kiryk's eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

"Hardwire, I want you to tear out the data banks if you can and get them out of here. Bulkhead, escort the Captain's companion back to the camp and tell everyone to prepare for an emergency evacuation. Get them out of recharge and kick them into orbit if you have to. No one is to be left behind" Elita said. Then she appeared to draw a breath of exasperation and continued, "That includes the prisoners."

The two Autobots nodded, though Bulkhead didn't look very happy about the order concerning the Decepticons. Cobalt chose that moment to interrupt.

"Just one question…how do we get out?" he said in a somewhat embarrassed tone. There was an awkward silence, broken by Deadfall, who grunted in derision.

"Two-bit, piece of tin Autobots, blaming me for everything, suspicious idiots can't even open a door." she grumbled and stalked towards the massive bridge entrance. She proceeded to run her long-fingered hands over the structure, as if looking for something which she appeared to find in one of the lowest parts. There was a click and a hiss, causing the massive aperture to open partway. The ex-Decepticon wedged her torso into the gap and worked it open further. Then she glanced over at the Autobots.

"Come on!" she shouted. This was enough to provoke a response. Cobalt and Hardwire hurried over and helped her push until the door was fully open.

"Go, now!" Deadfall shouted. No one needed telling twice. Elita knelt down and offered her hand to Kiryk and me once more. We quickly clambered onto her shoulders and then came the running.

When an Autobot runs with you on their shoulder, it's like riding a camel. The world goes up and down a lot and all you can do is cling in desperation to whatever part presents itself. You do move fast though. When you're thirty feet tall, you cover ground fast. We were back in the primary corridor in ten seconds flat. Hardwire didn't stop though. He transformed, becoming something like one of the hover-bikes from Star Wars and hurtling down the corridor.

"Where's he going?!" I said in confusion.

"He's going to find the computer core and physically tear out as much of the records and database as he can. If, as I surmise, Shockwave has somehow introduced a data-purging virus, it will prevent the records from being destroyed. Knowing Hardwire, that won't take long." Elita said. Then she offered us her hand again. I moved unthinkingly, as did Kiryk. As soon as were at ground level again, Elita transformed.

No matter how often I saw the process, it never ceased to amaze me. Shoulders shifted, the head split apart and legs pulled up. With intense speed, the Autobot Admiral became an enormous, magenta-colored, alien VTOL gunship The side of the craft slid open and Elita's voice emerged from inside.

"Get in." she said. Hesitating only for a moment at the insanity of the situation, I stepped into the Autobot Admiral as the other Cybertronians transformed around me. Kiryk, trusting in my example, entered the massive, truck-like vehicle Bulkhead had become. And then we were moving, hurtling down the main corridor at high speed. I was reminded of the aggressive driving my cousin practiced and winced each time we passed a possible obstruction, missing it by inches. Bulkhead eventually fell behind as he slowed upon reaching the route to the exit. Elita, Deadfall and the two guards, Undermine and Cobalt, remained on course, bearing me with them. Now the structure of the ship began to show more and more signs of damage. The ribbed ceiling was splintered and bent. In one part it had nearly collapsed and I yelled in surprise as Elite dropped her altitude to avoid it so much that we were nearly scraping the floor of the central alley. We zipped past, and I did my best not to think about how close the gap was.

We took about a minute and a half to cross the length of the ship at high speed, piles of bodies zipping past.

"Jeez, must've been a hell of a fight!" I muttered as we passed a particularly large pile, then shook myself and refocused on the fact that I had volunteered myself as a gremlin to crawl around in the guts of a huge, highly radioactive power core that was building for detonation.

"So what exactly am I going to have to do?" I said, trying not to give into the bubbling terror in my stomach, both from the shock of the little encounter in the bridge and the situation that lay ahead. It was Elita that responded.

"To my knowledge, the overload sequence of a Cybertronian ship is not meant to be aborted, but it appears Deadscream has a solution." said the Admiral's voice from the region of the cockpit. Her engines, which had already been at a steady roar, now grew louder as she redirected them for landing. We had reached our destination.

The opposite end of the corridor lay before us. It was pretty much identical to the other end which led to the Bridge. We landed and disembarked without fuss. Cobalt and Undermine took a minute to catch up to myself, the Admiral and Deadfall, possessing somewhat slower alternate forms. We had landed on the second tier walkway of the starboard side of the hall. The door on that level was closed, but it didn't look as thick as the bridge door. Because of this, Elita didn't mess about with it. She blew it open.

I had seen Cybertronian weaponry in action already, but it was clear that even if they weren't as advanced as the Ancients, they still had **BIG GUNS**. Elita adjusted her rifle, causing it to contract a bit into a smaller form and stepped through the smoldering ruin of the door she had just decimated with a single shot that had sounded like a tank round and beckoned for us to follow. I stepped lightly around the burning shrapnel and followed her, my hands checking my ears. They seemed to not be bleeding anymore from 'Shockwave's' electronic base screaming and as far as I could tell, I could still hear as well as ever. That was good. Good hearing in a cat and mouse situation could save lives, as mine had. It would've been really bad if it had been damaged. Then reality nudged me once more, indicating that it might not matter, as I was walking into an alien fusion reactor. If I came out, and that was a pretty big if, it would probably be as ash, but then the crazy, altruistic part of me cut in with the alternative, which was dying with the knowledge that I had not only failed Halling and Jinto and all the rest, but that I had had a choice and chose to let them die. I could never live with that. I couldn't die with it either.

The corridor beyond the smoking aperture was somewhat smaller than the one that had first led us onto this ship, though not by much. The thrumming, which had already multiplied in intensity by the time we had landed, was practically a small earthquake so close to the engines. There was a sound now too. An enormous klaxon, not rapid in tone, but loud and deep like a foghorn and repeating every twenty seconds or so, was also present now. It sounded synthesized too, like the voices of the Cybertronians. It was enough to prompt me to rub my ears again, which came away with a little drying blood. Elita must've noticed, because she knelt down next to me.

"You are damaged, Captain. Your auditory-", she began. I waved dismissively.

"I'm fine. And like I said, this is my problem as much as yours." I answered. I kept walking. As we went on, Deadfall pushed ahead, taking the lead and guiding us through a number of hallways, all of which, for me, were built for giants.

When we reached the reactor, I tried to figure out where to start and decided to just let my jaw drop, which was clean and simple. The chamber was huge. It was vast. And it was mostly empty space. In its center floated a titanic sphere of what looked like a sun, a ball of swirling dim orange flame under a semi-transparent layer of rippling energy that looked like water, possibly some kind of filter. A variety of constructs surrounded it, including tall, wire-frame columns pumping blue power in solid streams through them and what appeared to be large coolant pipes, filled with black-green sludge. The watery sphere in the middle was being held in place by two enormous white beams of energy which formed a horizontal line through it. As they approached it, they expanded to envelop the orb in a shimmering field of power that looked like the surface of a soap bubble. Enormous cables, or perhaps tentacles, snaked throughout the empty space like vines, most ending at the surface of the sphere. Tall spires rose here and there, tipped with crystalline extrusions which would arc with colored lightning every few seconds.

A long walkway went around the curvature of the room, dipping and rising to meet various fixtures that were actually little gantry-stations like the one we currently were on. I felt like I was standing in the Death Star's reactor. I don't know why I hadn't realized it earlier, but that sight finally brought home that this ship was built for beings far larger than humans.

Deadfall stepped up next to me.

"We have to move. The containment field projectors are dilating to compensate for a higher energy output. When they reach the maximum radius, they will fail and release the stored core energies into the environment. The blast produced by the resultant fusion reaction will turn this valley into a crater and invalidate the habitable status of this planet." she said, pointing up at the two points on the wall where the beams were being projected from. I tried to look more closely, which was hard given brightness of the beams. The room was hot too, and I had to wipe the sweat which was already forming on my brow out of my eyes. The air was like an oven. But even amidst the burning air, I could see that the beams were expanding.

"What do I have to do?" I asked. Deadfall stared at the massive black sphere.

"We have arrived just in time. The reaction is not too big for the surge-dispersion system to manage. If we don't hurry though the core will begin to deform and the chamber will be flooded with radiation. You need to work quickly. There are two main breaker coils that need to be reset. One will increase the strength of the containment field and multiply its compression of the reaction. The second will dump the excess power into subspace and obliterate the core itself. It's a measure of final resort and will render this ship almost useless apart from the emergency fuel rods" she said. Then she shifted slowly into a stance that suggested nervousness.

"Alright, what's the problem?" I said.

"The chamber where the fuses are is quite close to the core. You are certain that you can withstand the heat to shut down the reaction?" she asked, looking at me with what was probably a look of worry beneath her mask. That was strange, given everything I had been told about Decepticons. But then, maybe she really was different. Hell, you couldn't fight a war for ten-thousand years and cling to the same stolid beliefs the whole time. War changes people. I should know.

"I'll do my best." I said. She nodded slowly. The two beams chose that moment to brighten considerably. The heat intensified and the thrumming grew louder, if not more powerful. The klaxon continued, but was drowned out by the groan the ship gave off. That was really bad. I didn't need to be an engineer to know that the superstructure of the vessel had already taken a beating. Now it was being vibrated apart by its own beating heart.

"I will take you to the controls myself." Elita said, stepping up on my other side. Deadfall shook her head.

"No. You don't know where to go." she said. Though she didn't let it show, I could tell that the Autobot Admiral was confused that it was a Decepticon stepping up to save her people and mine. It was probably due to years of seeing the opposite happen, to hear her tell it. Deadfall saw it too.

"We're not all like my brother, Admiral. Some of us want hope, not power." she said. Elita stood there for a moment, her mouth opening to say something…then shutting. Deadfall transformed again, becoming a sleek, silvery alien-looking aircraft with a single-seat cockpit, which opened as soon as she was done.

"Let's go." her voice said.

I'm not afraid of fire, despite the fact that it was a fire that killed my parents and forced me to grow up in the care of my grandma and grandpa. I was too young to remember, I guess. I DID have an unhealthy terror of water though. I was never a very good swimmer in my childhood, but that fact was nothing compared to the experience of lying on floor of an ocean in the cold, crushing darkness, trapped in a state of half-life with the corpse of a Wraith warrior attached to my chest. I had been terrified of the sea ever since. Even the Hidden had not been able to rid me of the terror. I suppose it was a mercy that I was flying into the fire and not an ocean. Otherwise I don't think I would've been able to do what I had to do next.

Even in Deadfall's cockpit, I could feel the intense heat as we drew close to the tiny…sun that was the heart of the crashed ship. I took off my hat and wiped the sweat from my brow. We landed on an array of metal structures suspended by what looked like comparatively wire-thin, but complexly woven supports. There was no gantry or walkway. There was only a metal rail, giving off shimmering heat waves that made me very uncomfortable. We came to hover next to the structure, Deadfall trying to be a steady as possible. She swung closer, but then had to back off lest she crash into the thing. After two attempts her voice came over what must've been her internal radio in a huff of frustration and growing panic.

"Oh, it's no use!" she growled. Then there was a pause of silence. When her voice came back, there was a considerable amount of hesitation present.

"Captain…you see that opening?" she inquired. As if to highlight her words, the inner surface of the cockpit lit up with lines highlighting a reasonably large, complex window-like opening in the side of the structure. The rail ran just beneath it. There was a rather nasty orange yellow light coming from inside.

"Yes. What, do you want me to jump? Cause there's no way in hell I could make it." I said firmly.

"The window will open when it detects motion. And I'm not suggesting you jump. I'm suggesting I throw you. I apologize in advance for any injuries that may occur." she said.

"Wait, what!? No, wait! What!?" I babbled. But it was too late. The cockpit's interior split open and began to change shape, and then I was forced out, and falling and screaming and cursing all at the same time. The boiling air rushed around me, but before I had gone fifty feet, Deadfall was there, swooping down to grab me like a hawk grabs a rabbit, her metal claws trying to roll and slant to curb my descent so I didn't splatter all over her fingers while the massive jets of her upper body carried her. Then suddenly we were soaring up again, me in the grasp of her two smaller arms, until we were level with the window again.

"Sorry!" she shouted against the thrumming roar of the core mixed with the increasingly loud claxon of the alarm. My scream of 'YOU COLD-STEEL BIIIIITCH!' was lost in the racket as she threw me, bodily, across the gap. The window rushed up to meet me, but its frame split open and retracted as if hurtled onwards. Then I was past it and in a relatively small dark hallway shaped like a hexagon. I tucked in my limbs and tried to roll to absorb the impact, but I still swear I heard something crack. From the agony rattling around in me, it felt like it was my skull. I lay there and slowly unfolded myself, making sure everything was still working and not smashed to jelly from the impact. Even more slowly I forced myself to my feet. I must've bruised myself by falling on top of my holstered pistol. Thankfully the safety was on, so nothing had been vaporized. I turned to face the window, which was still open. Deadfall was clinging to the outside of the structure, her longer arms and clawed feet digging into the side.

"You!" I growled, "You psychopathic, oversized-". Before I could switch gears into full rage and berating, the floor shivered and the roar increased. So did the light from outside. My brain kicked me and reminded me that I was on a clock.

"Quickly!" shouted Deadfall. Her voice was barely audible over the now deafening roar of the engines and the self-destruct alarm, "There are two coils! One on the left, third from the entrance and one on the right in the same place! Pull the coil out and twist counter-clockwise, then jam it back in!"

As I tried to put her directions to use, I began to realize I had stepped into an oven. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck starting to crisp, if that were possible. Even my combat armor wasn't doing much good. I felt like I had entered a sauna without steam. The air was on fire. I couldn't take this for long. I ran down the hall. As I did, I realized that the hall was split up by pylons, large support structures dividing it into sections. Each pylon had a socket on the lower section with a handle attached to a circular cap. I reached the third pylon and without thinking, wrapped my hand around the handle…and screamed in utter agony. The heat was insane. The handle should've been red-hot or possibly even white, but it was still the same dark grey as the rest of the pylon disguising the blistering heat that it was giving off. My glove had a scorch mark when I ripped it away. The pain was blinding.

But in my head, I thought of the faces of Jinto and Halling, of Yullo, the village baker and all the rest who would die in a nuclear fireball along with these strange and wonderful new beings who had come here for safety if I failed. I reached into one of the inside pockets of my coat and pulled out a tiny Traveler health-kit. I fumbled with it in my haste and nearly dropped it, but kept my grip, pulling it open and yanking out the one thing I needed.

Travelers dealt with a lot of situations where pain was a major factor to be overcome. When living on a ship that could break down at any moment in a violent and often dangerous way, you needed to be ready to tend to yourself because frankly, you needed to fix the problem as fast as possible, lest it become worse and kill everyone on board. The advanced injector full of anesthetic needed no tie-off or removal of clothing. I simply jammed it into the inside of my right elbow and depressed the trigger. The pain faded quickly, but I knew it wouldn't stay gone long. I threw away the syringe and dropped the kit. Then I did the dumbest thing anyone could have possibly done in that situation and, after rolling up the sleeves of my coat, reached for the handle again. This time I felt almost nothing, apart from an uncomfortable warmth in my hand. I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and pulled as hard as I could. Pulling the damn thing out was like towing a steel ingot out of cold molasses.

I pulled until I heard a clank and it would move no further, then twisted it counter-clockwise as the smell of something burning reached my nostrils. I tried to ignore it and pushed with all my might. The coil slammed back in much faster than it had come out. The smell of smoke was severe now and the warmth had not just grown worse, but spread up my arm. it was strangely hard to pull my fingers loose from the coil. I turned, peeking from my shut eyes only to see where I should grab next. That was when I realized my forearm and hand were on fire. I swatted at the blaze but the deck shook under me.

"Captain, the core is about to deform! The chamber will be flooded with radiation! HURRY!" Deadfall shouted. That got my panic-stricken brain back from the edge. I could live with burns, but though this suit might protect me from some of the radiation, I began to understand that my words about 'radiation-proof' had been foolishly spoken when applied to the burst that was probably to come. It motivated me to seize the second coil and it became clear now that the drug was wearing off. Not that it mattered. I couldn't feel my left forearm anymore. I did my best to get a firm grip and pulled while in my head, amidst the growing pain, I began to wonder how this would turn out. My fingers were probably already moribund, but the rest of my arm might still be there…probably. Even so, I had dealt with enough burns in my time to know it wouldn't be pretty. The SWAT gear-style armor might protect from the actual flames, but my limb would be roasted like a microwave turkey or worse. I remembered all the images from the medical field guide I had read back in training, in particular the ones of severe burn cases and tried not to throw up the terrible oatmeal from this morning as I heaved with my dwindling strength at the coil while the flames licked at my forearm.

I don't remember much of what came after. I remember getting the coil to turn as the light outside became bright white and set Deadfall's body to glittering nanoseconds before I jammed down on the coil. The lights went out. So did the alarm. There was a titanic feeling of suction and a roar of wind, so much so that the flames on my arm went out as their fuel was ripped away.

All the hair on my body stood up for one second, then subsided as what I can only describe as a ripple in space flew past me. I remember stumbling to the window-like entrance and seeing Deadfall look down at me with that blank black mask that hid her face, but not her voice.

"Captain!" she said in shock. I fell to my knees.

"You, lady," I said, pointing at her with my still-good right arm, "have a lot to answer for." Inside, the anesthetic dam broke. The pain rushed in. I blacked out.


	9. Chapter 8: Recuperation

Chapter 8: Recuperation

I woke up screaming. My arm was still on fire, though now it was with pain and not actual flames. I flailed about in agony until strong hands pinned me down. Amidst the haze of suffering, I recognized Kiryk and Lennann. I was lying on one of the benches that lined the sides of the rear compartment of the Jumper.

"Aiden!" Lennann shouted, and I realized I was still screaming. I couldn't help it. I had only known pain this bad once, when I had gone cold turkey with the Wraith Feeding Enzyme. In the midst of the red clouds of misery and pain clogging my brain, I realized it was a miracle that I hadn't bitten through my tongue.

"Aiden!" Lennann shouted louder and I managed to shut my mouth and stop screaming. When I tried to speak all I could manage was a hiss of breath between clenched teeth. My throat felt raw and yet, at the same time, dry and cracked. I took this opportunity to look at my arm. I almost threw up.

They had removed my coat and most of my gear…but they hadn't been able to pull the stuff off my arm. From what I could see, the heat had fused the skin to the clothing like wax and in the areas where the fire had really made it through, the skin was red and cracked as well as black in certain places. The tips of my fingers, which my gloves hadn't covered, were completely black, scorched. But all this wasn't the bad part. The bad part was the way the pain seemed intermittent and scattered throughout my arm. I could only assume there was nerve damage. My arm was kaput. It was fried. Underneath the scorched armor, it probably looked even worse. I needed medical attention, now.

I tried to speak again and realized my lips were cracked and swollen slightly from the intense heat. With an effort of will, I peeled them apart enough to hiss some words. The cold air of New Athos drifting in through the rear entrance of the Jumper flowed into my lungs, which felt as if they had been filled with sandpaper.

"Call Elizabeth. Land the damn ship. I-", I started before the pain of my arm-turned-kindling drove back in. It took all my will not to scream again. Lennann nodded to Kiryk.

"He needs healing. Only Dr. Weir can help him." she said firmly. Kiryk nodded in response, released his hold and ran out of the Jumper. I felt another wave of disjointed pain flow up my arm as the tiny vibrations of his feet rattled through my scorched limb.

I tried to move a little to look out the rear of the Jumper, which was behind my head. Lennann held me firm.

"Do not move, Captain. If you move you will only make it worse." she said. A jolt of agony flowed through me and I blacked out for maybe ten seconds before I woke up again, trying not to scream. I could hear voices and the tread of heavy metal feet.

"Tell me, how in the name of the Primes did Shockwave gain control of that ship?" Elita One's voice said, its origin beyond my field of vision.

"I told you already, he must've reached in through the communications system." Deadfall's voice replied.

"And how do you know that?" Elita shot back.

"I have no idea! It's just a memory! I don't have the context! I don't know anything!" said the ex-Decepticon's voice.

"You knew exactly how to disarm that overload. How? Why is this ship so advanced? "Elita answered, a growing aggravation clear in her tone.

"I DON'T KNOW!" shouted Deadscream. The shout was actually rather quiet compared to the shouting Deadfall had done in the core of the ship. From my all too recent experience, I knew Cybertronian voices could be pretty loud, so I could only assume that the two were practically whispering for my benefit. There was an extended pause after that outburst, which Elita broke.

"I will need a liaison between myself and your fellow escapees. Communicating with them will be much easier if I can give them a single voice."

"Admiral, are you sure this is wise? She's a Decepticon!" Bulkhead said.

"She could have done us a considerable amount of harm or betrayed us at a number of points in the last day. Instead she chose to help us and Captain Ford's people in the face of almost certain death." Elita said calmly, "Furthermore, I had time to speak with some of the other former prisoners and they all hold her in high regard, even if they claim not to remember why. She is valuable, and it is clear she is not like the rest of the Decepticons we have fought over the years. And she has technical knowledge that could prove useful if we are to unravel what happened on that ship."

There was a pause of consideration from Elita, which was briefly interrupted by a new jolt of pain. Finally, the Autobot leader broke the silence.

"May the Primes forgive me…" she said. There was the tread of metal feet.

"I, Supreme Admiral Elita One, as per the authority given unto me by Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, am designating you, Deadscream, as a personal advisor in all affairs pertaining to the situation we find ourselves in. You will remain under guard, but be free to move about the encampment." The huge Autobot leader said firmly, before continuing," Make no mistake: this is not a pardon for your actions in the war. However, the circumstances call for me to trust you…do not break that trust, or you will live for the sole purpose of regretting it."

There was a clanking sound, followed by more words, spoken in a much more serious, possibly colder tone.

"You have the chance before you to prove you and your companions have changed and are of a different sort than the rest of Megatron's horde. Do not waste it." Elita said, "Your first task will be to help Hardwire sift through those data stores of the ship which he managed to rescue and when you are done, you will help to unravel this plot of Shockwave's."

There was more clanking. Darkness washed back in, then receded. I must've missed what Deadfall said in response, but when I came to, Kiryk was back.

"Hold on, Aiden. Help is coming" he said sternly. I blacked out again.

I woke up in a white bed. The ceiling overhead was white too. Where was this place? I tried to remember. I had been in pain. Now I was here…what happened in between? I examined my surroundings. The room was remarkably similar to the infirmary of Atlantis. However, some things weren't quite right. I could see wires trailing across the floor and panels removed from the walls, like in my own infirmary on the _Ascension_. I tried to move and found that, miraculously, I could. I looked down at my hands.

They were both there, the same as ever, unburnt and unbroken. I blinked. Now they were both burnt. I blinked again and they were normal once more. I heard footsteps coming. Quickly, I levered my way out of the bed. I was in white hospital clothes, a shirt and some pants. I looked around just in time to see the door to the room slide apart. Beyond it was a Wraith Brute. He was wearing the strange, bony, featureless mask that all his kind wore, almost like a helmet. His long flowing white hair trailed down to his shoulders, unbraided and unkempt.

As soon as he saw me, he lunged with a roar, feeding hand outstretched. I hurled myself backwards onto the floor and brought my feet up as he rushed at me, I slammed them into his chest, carrying him over my head and depositing him behind me on his chest. Using the fighting skills the Hidden had taught me, I undulated my body and flipped back to my feet, then spun to face my attacker…who wasn't there. Instead, there was…me?

In the corner of the room sat crouched a man in handmade clothes and rags. He was tapping a syringe full of orange fluid with one finger…and he looked exactly like me.

"Ford!" someone shouted from behind me. I whirled to see my old commanding officer standing behind me in the…the doorframe was gone. He and I were standing in a dark forest. Overhead, Wraith Darts were buzzing around overhead. The hospital clothes were gone. Now I was in my old fatigues from the Expedition. And in front of me was Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard, his P90 aimed right at me.

"Sheppard!" I shouted, reaching out to him. But the hand I stretched forth was bloody and burnt. I held it up to my face in horror. The sounds of the Wraith Darts had changed. Now alien spaceships did battle overhead. I saw the shadowy silhouette of Elita One's jet against the starry sky doing battle with unseen foes

Then it was gone. Sheppard melted right into smoke and suddenly I was in the water, seawater, all around. In the distance, I could see Atlantis, its spires shining in the morning's light that suddenly surrounded me. I tried to swim, but all I did was end up thrashing around and making some foam. Without warning, pale Wraith hands reached from beneath the waves and seized me. I saw the city begin to rise, its mighty engines glowing with power and its great domed shield engulfing the towers in crystalline glory while I was being dragged back into the abyss. I screamed with rage and fear and pain and abandonment. From below, a red light flickered to life. Great steel hands reached upwards to crush me.

And then it was all gone. I was alone in a dark room, sitting in a chair. Sitting across from me was Sheppard, now dressed like an Ancient, clad in sterile white.

"Why do you do it Ford?" he asked. I could see sadness in his face.

"Because no one else will! You all ran away!" I shouted at him.

"So did you." he said in response. I ground my teeth.

"I was sick. You can't blame me!" I growled.

"Why do you keep trying to be a hero? Just come home. We miss you. We all do." John said, only it wasn't John speaking, it was Teyla. In the dark behind him I could see my grandma and grandpa, my cousin and my uncle. I could see Teyla and Rodney, even Zelenka. They were all standing there, silent and sad.

"I keep trying to. But people need me! And I can't go back until they're safe." I said desperately. There was a silence.

"I have to finish the job we started." I said finally.

The figure sitting in front of me changed again, becoming Sheppard once more. He sat there in silence for a long time, staring at me until my skin felt his gaze boring into me. Finally he stood up.

"We are waiting." he said. Then he dissolved into nothing. For a moment I wanted to reach out to him, but my hand hurt so much. I looked down at it…

…and woke up.

I was in the medical bay of the _Ascension_. Elizabeth's hologram was sitting nearby on the bed next to mine. From the looks of things, she had been…well, crying, even though that was physically impossible. I opened my cracked lips and wheezed.

"Don't try to speak yet. Your lungs are still recovering from heat damage, along with most of your throat" she said. I ignored her.

"My…arm." I hissed. My throat felt raw and breathing hurt. Had the air in that chamber really been that hot?

"I'm sorry Aiden." she said. I looked down at my scorched limb. It was wrapped in Traveler's bandages, which looked a lot like electrical tape. The whole thing, from elbow to fingertips, was swathed in the black wrapping. It looked like a dead tree limb.

"I managed to remove the damaged skin and clothing. I tried to apply skin grafts too, but the damage was too severe. The muscles had suffered irreparable damage along with most of the nerves." she said, clearly trying not to burst out crying again. I tried to move the limb. Swords instantly crashed into the arm. I almost bit my tongue.

"I managed to deal with your ears too and most of your other burns…but the injury is too complex and severe for even me to deal with. I don't have the tools…neither do the rest of our allies."

She paused, staring grimly at me while I examined my arm in mute horror.

"I…had an idea." she said carefully and slowly. I rolled my head towards her.

"What?" I wheezed out. My lungs still hurt, though not as much. My ears felt better too as she had promised. But the arm…my arm was useless. I was crippled.

"Do you remember the Replicator nano-virus that you contracted back on Atlantis?" she asked, sounding like a person expecting to be yelled at. I shivered.

"Vividly." I grunted.

"Well, I still have a few working nanites left over from my old body. If I got some technical help, I could try to reprogram them to fix the damaged nanites still left in your system."

I broke out in a fit of violent coughing. It took me a minute to stop and even then, the burning in my lungs and throat remained.

"What!?" I hacked out.

"I'd reprogram them to fix your arm from the inside out. It wouldn't be easy-" she started.

"No!" I hissed.

"But-"she tried to say.

"I'm not trusting a bunch of tiny killer robots to put me back together!" I wheezed.

"But you have the Ancient Gene now! They wouldn't try to kill you!" she blurted out.

"I don't care! What happens if we screw up in reprogramming them and they start spreading like last time!? How the hell would we stop them? I'm not doing it, so find another way!" I said coldly. Then I burst out in more coughing. The burning in my chest was getting worse.

"Ford!" Elizabeth cried. I fell back on the pillows and almost blacked out again. When I opened my eyes, the robotic arms that the bed was equipped with were holding my mouth open and spraying something foul into it. I tried not to choke. Finally they stopped and retracted.

"I told you not to talk. The damage to your lungs it still being dealt with. In fact, I'm surprised you're even still breathing." she said. She was no longer crying. Now her virtual face was red with anger and irritation.

"I'm pretty sure the arm needs to go too. Otherwise you run the risk of getting an infection." she said. I couldn't move very well. Every muscle was sore, but I could move enough to move my good arm to shield my damaged one.

"My arm." I said childishly, "Mine." It was remarkable I could find humor in the situation. Maybe I was just trying to avoid realizing the depth of the trouble I was in.

"Don't be ridiculous." she growled.

"You…are…not taking…my arm."

Elizabeth threw up her arms in exasperation.

"Aiden, we don't have nearly enough antibiotics to keep that arm healthy or enough bandages. We're low enough on medical supplies as it is!" she snapped.

"Then...call…Larrin." I hissed. She glared at me.

"And who do you want me to send? What do you want me to sell? What makes you think Larrin would be at all interested in helping us? She's got her own problems."

"Just…tell Jeremiah…to go…use…the Stargate. Give them…the _Delphi_. Just…need to get…better, urgh." I grunted as a lance of pain shot through me. Elizabeth gave me a hesitant look. I mustered my will and glared at her in spite of the pain that made me want to grimace.

"I'm still…in charge…just get some medicine. Get me well…enough to…stand and fight. I need to talk to Elita One…aauugh!" I choked back a scream and tried to keep from simply thrashing in agony. I could only assume we were running low on anesthetic.

"NOW, ELIZABETH!", I half-shouted, half-screamed at my companion. My will gave in. I started to thrash until the robot arms pinned me.

"Ford!" Elizabeth cried.

I blacked out again.

I floated in a void a long time, punctuated by brief periods of wakefulness and screaming in pain because there was no anesthetic. Faces passed in and out of my consciousness. Some were familiar. Others I could not recognize. Some were made of metal and totally alien.

A long time passed in a little while. I thought I saw the red-haired Larrin at one point. She was silent while I writhed in agony, though I saw pity on her face. I passed out. After that first encounter with Elizabeth, I was never able to stay awake and remain coherent enough to communicate. I drifted in and out of consciousness…and dreamed of home.

Then one day I woke up…and knew with absolute certainty, no matter what happened, nothing would ever be the same ever again.


	10. Chapter 9: Back to Basics

Chapter 9: Back to Basics

I peeled my eyelids apart, and then shut them as bright light assaulted them. I was still on the medical bed…but I knew I had been moved around a bit. The sheets had been changed and my clothes as well. I tried to turn my head and felt sore in every joint. My lungs no longer burned though…that was a good sign, right?

On the far side of the bay, a man in the greyish lab-coat of a Traveler doctor was standing near a console and checking things. Then suddenly, Elizabeth was by my side, her holographic self simply appearing in a swirl of white light. She stared at me arms crossed silently for a while.

"Ow." I said finally. She tried to hide her smile, but it bled through anyway.

"Feeling all better?" she asked, obviously trying to sound annoyed. The doctor in the background turned to see her.

"Vital signs are stable. He's in no further danger, though he'll probably feel sore for a while…" the man said, brushing back his black hair.

"Good, good, now go somewhere else, I need to talk to him." Elizabeth said, waving him away without turning around. The man looked mildly offended, but nodded and bowed out, closing the med-bay doors behind him. Apart from us, the room was totally empty, though not entirely silent. I could hear people walking by the room in the hallway outside.

"Now, I think you and I need to talk, Aiden. ", she said, sitting down on a chair that had magically appeared next to her…magically in the context of holograms that is...

I opened my lips, happy they were feeling a bit better than the last time I used them.

"There was no other way." I said, no longer having to hiss or wheeze from a sore, swollen throat.

"I understand that…but I wanted to tell you…" Elizabeth started. Then she paused.

For a long while we both said nothing.

"I need you to know…you can't keep doing this." she finally said.

"Keep doing what?" I asked, She glared at me.

"One of these days, you're going to rush into a situation where I can't help you and you won't come out alive." she said coldly.

"What, you think I have some kind of death wish?" I snorted.

"Maybe just a little…" she shot back sarcastically.

"I have no such thing." I grunted.

"Let me lay it out straight for you, because I've been there. In fact, I am there, Aiden." she said. She stood up and began to pace at the foot of my bed.

"You run off under the influence of an alien drug. When, by some mad chance, you realize what you've done, and what it made you do to your friends, how you've hurt them because of it, you feel a lot of shame, shame that's totally unwarranted. Out of this misplaced shame, you try to sacrifice yourself for them, but at the last moment, you decide you want to keep living. So you make an escape. You get lucky and meet some monks who can get you off the drugs, but the shame's still there. It's getting worse." she started to say.

"If you're going somewhere with this, please tell me." I growled. Elizabeth stopped,

"Y'know what, you're right. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not qualified to be talking to you about this…but I can still take a hint." she said furiously. She unfolded her arms and laced her fingers together in front of her face.

"You want to go home…but you can't do it like you are. You have to prove to yourself that you're not the person the drug made you into. You have to come home a hero or not at all. And you can't go home, because home is a galaxy away. "she said, "So you start raising the stakes, becoming more and more careless with your own life, because there's nothing left but to go out in a blaze of glory"

"That's crazy." I spat.

"No?" she said, "Then what about the time you got into a mind war with that Wraith Queen? Or the time before than when you tried to take on the whole Quindosim brotherhood yourself? And the time before that, when you hunted down that rogue Genii, Ados, for Ladon? Tell me there's not a pattern of failed suicide attempts stretching from here to Amaluuk." Elizabeth continued. I propped myself up on the pillows behind me as she came to stand by the side of my bed.

"Ados nearly killed you…twice. The Brotherhood did the same nearly a dozen times in as many hours." Elizabeth said.

"I had a job to do." I grunted.

"I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about me." she said, raising her voice in anger. That got my attention.

"You pulled me out of space and when you found my Replicator body was breaking down, you trusted me enough to give me a second chance, even after what I told you, and put me in this ship. I've helped run it practically since the days when the paint was still fresh on the walls." she said. Then her voice softened somewhat.

"I don't know whether you know it or not, but you, me, Kiryk, the crew…we're like a team…more than a team, a family. And you are the only person from the Milky Way left in this entire galaxy that I can still talk to. I'm not saying I love you. Some days I can hardly stand you. But without you, I'd be alone in the void with a bunch of dying machines. And if you had died…I don't know what I would have done." she said. I could see a few tears on her illusionary face.

My mouth hung open. Elizabeth had always been mostly a silent companion, or a tactical advisor, hell, even a diplomatic teacher to me. But I had never thought about what my kindness had meant to her, or what it meant to be a stranger in a strange land. I had always been so focused on the job, on fulfilling the missions I had set for myself, on saving people that I guess I had never really had time to consider my motives. I could've gone back to Atlantis after the Hidden had helped cure me, but she was right. The shame I had felt had filled my mind. I had imagined going home to an honorable discharge and spending the rest of my life feeling in adequate. I couldn't take that.

So I had gone on my long journey that had brought me the Ascension, the respect of many worlds, vital knowledge, victory against the Wraith, ZPMs, powerful technology and all sorts of boons. And when I thought I was ready I had gone back to Atlantis…only to find it wasn't there, that it had left long ago and stranded me here. So I had decided to try and do even better, rise even higher, but most of all, to keep doing what I had already been doing because there was nowhere to go. I had done all this, decided all this without realizing it…and not once had I wondered what it might be doing to the one friend from my old life that I still had with me.

I looked over at Elizabeth who stared back sternly, yet with tears in her eyes.

"I…I'm sorry." I finally said, looking down. She put her hand on my shoulder.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." she said, a smile breaking through the stern look, "I just want you to understand…there's still hope. Don't give up. We'll find a way home."

"Who knows, we might've just found it with these guys." she said, chuckling. I smiled. I felt better, relieved somewhat. I tried to remember her words. There was still hope. I would find a way…and I'd come home to where I belonged: Atlantis. She patted my shoulder, though since she was a hologram, I felt nothing.

"Now come on, up and out of bed. There're people waiting to talk to you." she said.

I levered myself out of the bed and onto legs that hadn't walked in two weeks according to Elizabeth. They were pretty wobbly to say the least, but got better as I used them more. The medical machines had prevented any atrophy and fixed me up as best they could. I was still dressed in a set of white hospital clothes, which I traded for a set of handmade ones from a village I had saved years back that had been sitting folded neatly next to the bed. The fabric was a little worn, but still good. My uniform and coat were elsewhere, having been put back in my wardrobe. Actually, my uniform was toast, I learned as I listened to Elizabeth, but the coat had survived perfectly. The uniform in my wardrobe was a replacement from Larrin…who was onboard.

That made me speed up dressing. Larrin was a not a woman to be kept waiting. As I dressed and made myself presentable, Elizabeth explained. Jeremiah had gone immediately to New Grondia with a group of Athosians, where Larrin had been more than happy to supply food and drugs in exchange for the coordinates of the Delphi. It also became clear that Elizabeth had done a little extra dealing while I was asleep on her own. She explained that Larrin had been hesitant to give out a refit and resupply in exchange for the other two ships I had been saving up, at the mention of the strange new beings on New Athos, she had agreed to it as long as a meeting with them was added to the deal. Since then, the Ascension had become a hive, buzzing with Traveler diplomats, scientists and workers. They all wanted to talk to the Cybertronians and study their technology, as well as that of the crashed ship.

Anyone else might've been annoyed or angry at all this, but Elizabeth and I had long ago come to the agreement that she was to assume command whenever I was incapacitated, unreachable or otherwise out of the picture. Kiryk would remain first officer on all occasions, and followed her orders and he followed mine. As I slipped on what Elizabeth told was a cast for my mangled arm, which now looked hideously melted and bony beneath a layer of bandages, she continued to speak.

Deadfall had sent several small (read 'only seven or eight feet tall') ex-Decepticons to see me and take measurements of my damaged arm in my long periods of sleep, with no explanation given. That made me suspicious. What would she possibly want with my arm? Was she going to try and replace it? I shrugged the strap of the cast over my shoulder, feeling only a dull throbbing as I did so. The pain would probably always be there now. I'd just have to get used to it…

"So the refit is amazingly almost complete. Larrin has been putting a lot into us, mostly because of the Autobots I think. They're getting along quite well with the Travelers…maybe because they have a lot in common, what with being stuck in space for thousands of years…" Elizabeth finished. I grunted in amusement, and then thought back to Elita's 'gift' to Deadfall.

"They said they were decoding the databanks of that ship…" I began to say.

"They were. No luck so far. This character Shockwave did a real number on the hardware. As for the ship, a lot of it has been stripped down by now. The Travelers and Autobots are working on it. Pretty advanced stuff…" she said in response.

"So we still have no idea what's going on." I said. Elizabeth shrugged apologetically.

"Not really, no. Larrin is waiting in the conference room to talk to you. She said she's got some important information to impart on the state of the galaxy. Wouldn't tell me what they were. She said she'd only talk to you."

"Well I guess I'd better see her then." I said rolling my eyes. I slipped into some comfy shoes that had been waiting on top of clothes next to the bed and began to my journey, unsteadily at first, but with increasing strength, across the _Ascension_ to meet my long-time benefactor.

Larrin was a woman with fiery red curly hair and a temperament to match. She was my contact with the Traveler leadership and head of their new military. Her coming here represented a huge breach of protocol…but Larrin made her own protocol.

As I entered the conference room, she looked up from a stack of transparent plastic sheets the Travelers used as a paper substitute and watched as a stumped through the door, limping a little. There were still little twinges of pain all over, but all well within controllable ranges. We stared at each other across the stainless-steel conference table in silence for about twenty seconds until I spoke.

"You're in my seat." I said, giving the Traveler a serious look. She returned it with one of her own.

"Really?" she said, "I hadn't noticed." We went on staring until I gave in. My serious face collapsed into a grin.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you." I said.

"I'll bet you say that to all the girls." she shot back, also grinning. I burst out laughing. She joined in. Behind me, Elizabeth's hologram just rolled her eyes. As the laughter died off, I sank into the chair opposite Larrin and drew my hand across my face before trying to restore a little formality.

"Honestly, though. I have no idea if things would be in the shape they are right now if you hadn't showed up." I said.

"Anything for you." chuckled Larrin.

"Oh, I bet you say that to all the boys." I snorted. We both exploded with laughter again. It took us two who minutes to calm down. Normally, anyone who spoke like that to Larrin suffered instant death, no muss or fuss. But I had done enough to help her and her people that I had earned it.

"Anyway, Elizabeth said you had something to say to me. You wanted to catch me up on current events?" I said, finally quelling the last bits of laughter. Larrin slid some of the transparent 'papers' over to my end of the table for me to see.

"Since we last met, things have been moving at a pretty high speed. The resettlement and restoration of the Cluster has accelerated as more ships have come to join us. We've also been able to speed up our construction timetable for new ships and the technology we've gained from researching the ruins has made things move even faster." she said. I looked over the sheets of plasti-paper, ignoring the Traveler text, which I had never learned to read, and instead focusing on the black and white images of the march of progress on New Grondia.

"Of course, these new…beings have slowed things a bit. We've devoted quite a few resources to come here and investigate." Larrin continued.

"Have you spoken with Elita about our little…incident?" I asked her, looking up from the stack of information.

"Yes. This…Shockwave, whoever, or whatever he is, could prove to be a significant problem if he turns out to be more than threats and promises. Of course, I have my doubts…" she started to say.

"I don't doubt him." I said. This earned me a concerned look from Larrin.

"I only got to hear him speak for two minutes or so, but…call it a gut feeling, but I get the sense that a new player is about to step out on the galactic stage…with big consequences for everyone." I said, staring firmly into her eyes. Larrin sighed.

"I know the feeling." she said. I recognized the look on her face. I had worn it myself in the recent past.

"They are something, aren't they?" I said. She blushed.

"I've seen a lot of strange things during my time as a Captain and even more since the resettlement started. I've even seen some of the stuff from the Grondian Colony Fleet Logs…but I never imagined such beings could exist…living machines." she said, obviously trying to restrain herself from gushing.

"Yeah, they're a bit more that even I expected." I answered grinning.

"We've had diplomats doing their best to get on good terms with them. They've been very cooperative, even the ones who are supposed to be 'bad guys'." Larrin said. There was a pause before I spoke, dragging us back on topic.

"Well, what's up with the Wraith?" I asked. Larrin's face darkened.

"We've managed to begin establishing a territory of our own. With your help and the new ships we've been building, we're starting to create a sphere of influence outside the Cluster. We've had success with hit and run attacks and we've destroyed more of their cloning facilities. In fact, we believe there's only about three of them left, but that's not the big news…" she said. She shoved more plasti-paper sheets down the table, which I had to catch with one hand. When she had finished, I took the first sheet off the top and raised the floppy sheet of plastic up to the light. Like all its counterparts, it was perfectly transparent, covered in Traveler language and dotted with small pictures of…well I had no idea what they were.

"We made a recent discovery that could be key to eliminating the Wraith. We've always known they can set up labs, but this is something else entirely." she said, giving me a shark's smile.

I pretended to examine the document briefly before putting it down.

"Okay, so what is it?" I asked.

"It's their support mechanism." she said, still grinning.

"What?" I said, trying to be as sarcastic as General O'Neill.

"You remember me telling you how the Wraith used cloning to increase their numbers in order to defeat the Ancients?" she said, rolling her eyes. I nodded slowly.

"Yeeessss…and?" I said, trying to make a gesture showing that I was getting tired of being expected to know what the hell she was talking about.

"Well, huge armies aren't much good if you can't carry them to where they're needed." she responded. I tried banging those words around in my head until something cracked open and the light of understanding shone through.

"It's a Wraith shipyard?" I said, stunned.

"More like a Wraith Ship-Farm. Their technology is organic. They grow their ships and other machines, which, while being a big strength, is also the source of their biggest weakness. We believe this is just one of several. They haven't been used in millennia, just like the cloning facilities, but now all of the Wraith are fighting over them. Without them, they can't replenish their space forces. And no one alliance of Hives has enough power to construct a new one. They're in limited supply ", Larrin explained, smiling maniacally. She handed me three more transparent sheets. Each one held more images. Now I could see what I had been missing. The images were of a barren, almost moon-like landscape, a landscape. In the various craters were curved and wavy shapes…familiar shapes. Hive Ships.

"According to our intelligence and some educated guesses, we think they built these things on planets that fall between the gaps of the Stargate Network, just like the cloning facilities. That way they have a perfect measure of defense should any people like, say, the Genii become a threat and decide to blow them up." They're inaccessible except by ship and they have formidable ground-to-space defenses." she continued, pointing out a number of other shapes surrounding the Hive Ships and other facilities. I poured over the images for a while in patient silence. This was big. In fact, this could be huge. I looked over at Larrin.

"As I've said, we've already destroyed several cloning facilities." she said.

"But they don't plan to use them in the near future anyway. Too many Wraith as it is…but THIS," I said tapping on the images, "You blow this up, and you put a SERIOUS dent in their support structure. No more shipyards, and every Dart lost is lost forever. You effectively take away their space-superiority advantage."

I grinned. This was enormous. This was quite possibly a turning point in the war that had gone on for far too long.

"You haven't told the Genii or the Hidden about this have you?" I asked, looking over more of the 'papers'.

"Only a few people in our highest circle know about this. I'm not even supposed to be telling you. The goal is that while we build our forces and establish a sphere of influence, we locate more of these farms, as many as possible. Then, once the time is right-", she said.

"You light 'em up all at once." I finished, Then in tried to use my one operative hand to stack the transparent sheets of plastic back into order…kept trying for ten seconds, then gave up in frustration.

"And you can't tell anyone because you can't risk another power striking before you've had the time to find as many of these places as possible. You want maximum effect, which requires patience, and you're afraid, and with good reason, that someone else won't have the patience you do." I continued.

"Exactly, plus, we take in more and more refugees every day. The more that come in, the more we build our own support system. We need unity and numbers to challenge the Wraith. You showed us that. You provided us with the tools, now it's up to us to make it happen." Larrin said.

It was at this point that Elizabeth, who had remained silent throughout the discussion, interrupted.

"Ford, Elita is trying to contact you. I told her you were awake and mobile again, and she says wants to see you in person."

"What for?" I asked. Internally, I had been an expecting a call from the Admiral the moment I had gotten up, since she seemed like the kind of person who would want to apologize for what had happened, even though it wasn't her fault. However, something in Elizabeth's voice piqued my interest.

"She says she wishes to speak to you about something they've recovered from the data banks of the ship. Apparently it's urgent." Elizabeth said. I sighed.

"Tell her I'll be out as soon as I can." I said before turning to face Larrin again.

"I get the feeling that there's another reason you're telling me about this…" I said suspiciously, "I know we're good friends, but this seems like something you would've kept close to the heart, even from me."

Larrin laced her fingers and aimed her gaze at mine.

"I need you to…ask your new friends a favor." she said hesitantly, "Since you seem to be on the best terms with their leaders." There was a pause as my brain, now fully cleared of the fogs of two weeks of sleep, jumped ahead of the conversation and provided a brief summary of what Larrin was about to ask.

"You want them to help in the fight." I said calmly. Larrin nodded.

"They've obviously had a great deal of experience when it comes to warfare. We could certainly use that to our advantage. ", she answered.

"And what if they say no?" I said, staring back at Larrin, "You've got to understand, they've been fighting for ten-thousand years, maybe more. They've traveled all over the universe looking for their Holy Grail, that Allspark thing. I don't imagine they'd want to engage in another war for the sake of people they've just met."

Larrin frowned.

"It's not like we were going to ask without offering something." she said, her tone one of affront.

"And what could you offer them that they might have any interest in?" I inquired.

"We have the Grondian ship logs."

That statement made me hesitate. The Grondian ship logs contained the incredibly detailed records of a journey over a thousand years and quite possibly millions of galaxies. If the Allspark was out there…it was entirely possible that the logs might contain some record of its location.

"That might be enough to get them interested, but I'm still not sure they'd go for it."

"All I'm asking is that you ask them for us. If nothing comes of it, then we'll let the matter drop."

I raised my eyebrows in doubt.

"What, just like that?" I asked suspiciously. Experience had taught me that when it came down to it, the Travelers could be as conniving as the Genii when it came to getting something they thought they needed.

"I talked with the Council about this before considering this. I've spent two weeks with these aliens, long enough to understand that this isn't their fight. They've got one of their own. The Council seems to understand that too. They said they wouldn't force the issue if you were rejected." she explained.

"I thought you didn't tell them that you were telling me about the shipyards?" I said.

"I just asked them if we could form a general military alliance. I didn't say anything about the shipyards."

I almost leaned on my burnt and battered arm, but hesitated and instead stroked my chin with my good hand. This incapacitation was going to take some getting used to. After a while, I looked at the plasti-papers, then at Larrin.

"I'll ask them about it." I finally said. Larrin smiled.

"Thank you." she said. I grunted.

"Don't thank me yet. " I grumbled, "We've still got a lot of ground to cover."


	11. Chapter 10: Objects in Motion

Chapter 10: Objects in Motion

It took me a further ten minutes to finish catching up with Larrin and confirm that the _Ascension_ would be flightworthy in two days, after which I made my way to the ship's exit elevator. The _Ascension_ was a big girl, but not so big that she couldn't land on a planet. For such occasions, there was large disembarkation elevator in the belly of the vessel, little more than a platform mounted on hydraulics that could descend to the surface below the ship. It was enough to get me down to the planet and out amidst the woods.

As I came out from the shadow of my ship and looked around, I examined what I had been missing these past few weeks. When the _Ascension_ had landed on New Athos as a precaution to evacuate the Athosians, it had set down in one of the few unforested areas of the valley, which was around a lake on the side of the Athosian camp opposite the crash site. It had squashed a few trees in the process, but I doubted anyone would complain.

As I gazed over this scene, my eye was drawn to the ship itself. I had never realize how worn out the _Ascension_ had been until right now. I could see Travelers in their grey uniforms marching to and fro with repair materials and patching up things on the hull. When I had last looked, my ship had reminded me somewhat of the wrecks of Ancient vessels we had encountered. There were more than a couple holes and dozens upon dozens of scorch marks. Dents from micrometeorites had been much in evidence and the belly of the vessel had been partially blackened from a situation involving escape from a Wraith Hive Fleet by flying into the corona of a white dwarf star. Almost all of that was gone now. I had to hand it to Larrin. Her people really knew how to put things back together.

Thoren had joined me on my excursion, as had Illidin. Illidin was one of my newer crewmembers. He had joined us relatively recently, no more than eight months ago. I had rescued him from a Bola Kai attack on his village, which had left him without his left ear and minus two fingers. Before our departure, Elizabeth had entrusted him with a Traveler multi-use syringe full of antibiotics to be used if my withered arm started acting up. When I had asked why she had given it to him and not me, she had said she didn't trust me to administer the doses myself. Then she had vanished before I could protest. Clearly she was still upset over my nearly getting myself killed.

But that wasn't my biggest problem. The biggest problem was getting to the Autobot camp without the Jumper. Since only I could actually fly it, it had been left to gather dust in the woods not far from the Athosian settlement. I didn't want to try flying it anyway, though. I had little confidence in myself as a one-armed pilot.

So we did the next best thing and hitched a ride on a Traveler hover-craft. They were towing things to and from the Stargate, mostly repair materials, so we climbed onto one that did not look gainfully employed and used it to shorten our trip back to the Athosian settlement.

Once there, I asked after Halling, but discovered he was off-world, bargaining with the Traveler leadership for extra supplies, now that winter was coming on. I winced upon hearing that. I should've been the one getting those supplies. I had been planning to do that on that fateful day two weeks ago. But then things had changed, like they always did.

We managed to get the hovercraft, which looked like a futuristic dune buggy with big glowing pods instead of wheels, to carry us to the Jumper before its driver turned back. From there on we were on foot. Thoren took the lead and I hung back with Illidin for once while we trudged through the pines and redwoods. It was a bright morning so light was not a problem.

"So where's Kiryk?" I asked my lightly dismembered companion nonchalantly as we trudged through the woods.

"He left two days ago to visit Celise on Childhood's End. He should be back soon." Illidin said. I raised my eyebrows. Celise was…well she was Kiryk's daughter more or less. Back when he had been a Runner, he had stayed a single night in an isolated village. The very next day, the Wraith had obliterated the entire population except for Celise, the only person Kiryk had been able to save, She had been barely eight at the time, and had been forced to go on the run with Kiryk, lest the Wraith hunt her down.

Eventually, when Kiryk's tracking device was disabled, she had found her way into the hands of a good, kind family…too kind for her liking. Her life with Kiryk had changed her, making her far more mature for her age than usual. So she had run away to Childhood's End, the perfect place for a tough eight-year-old looking for a place to belong. The children on Childhood's End were raised to act like adults by the time they were fourteen. She had fit right in.

It had been a few years back and purely due to chance that the two had met again. Ever since, Kiryk would sometimes take 'shore leave' to go visit her and tell her stories of his adventures. However, he also went to her when his emotions got the better of him. She was his anchor in a world of change.

"Well I can't blame him for wanting to be with his family for a little while." I said casually.

"If it's any consolation, he stood by you for the first eleven days." Illidin said uncertainly.

"No, no, seriously, it's fine." I said, chuckling, "I know Kiryk. He's not the kind to stand vigil over someone. He moves around a lot…but he's there when you need him, and that's what counts." Illidin nodded, slowly. He was still somewhat new to the whole 'rag-tag family of vigilantes' lifestyle.

"What about any of our protected worlds? Any alarms?" I asked, stepping over a tree root the size of my good forearm.

"Nothing so far…" Illidin said in response, "I've actually spoken with the Travelers about it and it's quite strange. The Wraith have actually been seen less and less lately. There's also some very…odd tales circulating in a number of taverns."

"You mean stranger than the usual stuff?" I asked jokingly. Illidin had a hesitant look about him, though, so I tried to be a little more serious.

"Well there're farmers telling stories of Wraith stealing crops and cattle." Illidin said. I snorted.

"What would they possibly want that for, it's not like they have cravings?" I chuckled.

"I asked if they were looking into the matter, but the man I spoke with just said it was probably something to do with the Immune." Illidin said. That idea made my blood run cold.

The Immune were not a civilization, like the Hidden. They weren't even all from the same world. They were simply people who were immune to the Wraiths' feeding process. Their story had its roots in the endeavors of a world called Hoff, whose people had created a drug that not only prevented the Wraith from feeding on those who took it, but poisoned the Wraith when they tried to do so. It came with a price though: half the people who took the serum died from respiratory failure.

Hoff and its people had been destroyed by the Wraith in retaliation for their defiance, but someone, somewhere had gotten ahold of the research. Three years later, dozens of worlds were struck by a plague with symptoms identical to those who died from the Hoffan serum. It wasn't until later, and with Elizabeth's help that I had discovered what was causing it. Someone had dispersed the drug into the food and water of said worlds, resulting in millions of deaths, but millions more that were immune to the Wraith. Nowadays, if a single member of the Immune was found on a world, the Wraith would wipe out the entire population to prevent the 'poisoned' from spreading. It had been one of the many things to put a dent in the Wraiths' iron grip on the galaxy…but it had cost millions of lives.

If the Wraith were gathering crops, maybe they were taking a page from their would-be destroyer and trying to find a way to eliminate the Immune. That could cost millions more lives if they succeeded.

"We need to find out more…" I said. Illidin looked at me in confusion.

"But it's just a rumor! Why should it matter if the Wraith want crops anyway-"he started to protest, until I turned and gave him a sharp look.

"They are Wraith, Illidin." I said coldly, "They never do anything without an ulterior motive. Trust me. I've seen and heard enough to know that."

Illidin slowly nodded. Then together, we trudged on.

It took us longer than last time to reach the Autobot encampment. As we came out of the woods, which were considerably thinner now around the said camp, I saw the bulk of the Decepticon ship looming on the horizon. However, this time it looked more bony and ridged. I could see strange alien craft buzzing around it, presumably Autobots preparing it for dismantling. There were also the beginnings of what looked like defenses. In another part of the camp, I saw what looked like an anti-aircraft gun being carried into position by two hefty-looking Autobots. Two more were already in place and as I watched, another Autobot ran a reel of cable back to a large generator-type device, a massive barrel of metal with an indented ring of plugs around the sides.

There were structures now too, somewhat like the portable rooms and offices people rented out for construction jobs on Earth. These had their own alien touch to them, but they were recognizable as dwellings. I hesitated to ask for directions, especially from the giant robots milling around us. My crew had had two more weeks to become accustomed to their company than I had, which put me at a disadvantage. Even so, Thoren and Illidin looked almost as uncomfortable as I probably did. Be it two weeks or two years, the idea, much less the presence of giant robots never stopped being unsettling.

Thankfully, a green-blue Autobot caught sight of me and wandered over, a slightly taller, deep-blue skinned Autobot tailing behind her.

"Captain Ford!" she said, in a bubbly, somewhat teenage voice, squatting down to get closer to me. Thankfully I didn't flinch as several tons of steel sank down to look me over.

"You would be…?" I said, leaving the question hanging in the air.

"I am Moonracer. This is my sister, Chromia. I could suppose you could say I am cousin to Elita One. Her mother and mine were sisters." the Autobot gave as introduction. My mind tried to absorb that…and left it alone for now.

"I'm looking for Elita One. I wanted to talk to her." I said. Moonracer smiled and rose back to her feet.

"I will take you to her." she said. I saw the deep blue Autobot, Chromia, shift and roll her eyes…optics, whatever.

"Thank you." I said, as Moonracer turned and beckoned for us to follow. I had to jog a little to keep up with her, while keeping one eye on Chromia who fell into step behind us. My concentration was disrupted a bit when Moonracer looked back over her shoulder and started talking to me.

"I never got the chance to greet you Captain, or thank you for what you did onboard the wreck, for all of us." she said, making relatively small strides so as not to outdistance us too quickly. The statement caught me quite off guard.

"You're welcome." I managed to say. I slowed a bit more and tried to keep my bandaged, withered limb steady. The bouncing and motion of jogging was making it feel sore.

"These…other humans, these Travelers have been most helpful and kind. I gather they hold you in great respect." she went on.

"I've done a lot to help them restore their civilization." I said lamely.

"So I gather. Tell me please, because I only recently heard the name: Who are the Grondians?" she asked, throwing me yet another curveball.

"Ummm…didn't Elizabeth or the Travelers tell you?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not." she replied. I paused, wondering where to begin. I would've thought that this ground had already been covered on that first night, when Elizabeth had given them the tourist's guide to the Pegasus. Apparently, my perfect powers of assumption had let me down again…

"The Grondians are a dead race. They came to Pegasus galaxy as explorers about…five-thousand years ago I think." I said, trying to remember everything Larrin's people had learned about the mysterious colonizers of the Cluster.

"How did they die?" Moonracer asked. I did my best to avoid a pit where some tree stumps had been removed, leaving heavy-duty potholes in their wake.

"A division grew in their culture. They had colonized a number of worlds that were beyond the reach of the Wraith, in a nebula with a background radiation count high enough to do serious damage the Wraiths' organic technology. They divided into two camps, an expansion-focused militaristic group that wanted to destroy the Wraith and conquer the galaxy. The other party wanted to keep things as they were."

"A civil war?" asked Moonracer. In her voice, I could hear tones of disgust and pity. I guess she could empathize, having lived in the midst of such a massive war herself for so long.

"Actually, no. From what I've heard things came to a head when a vote was held on the matter. A group of extremists from the military faction released a virus that devastated their population when the vote didn't go their way, planning to pin it on the Wraith in the hopes the public would side with them when it was over. They didn't count on the weapon being so effective though. The last remnants of their people died off over four-thousand years ago. All that was left was their artificial creations. I found the remains of their empire by accident while using the Stargate. I told the Travelers about it, since they'd been living like nomads in space for generations. They've been occupying and rebuilding the place as a means of restoring their own civilization. It's pretty easy, since the Grondians built to last and there are still ready-made cities in quite good condition."

"That is how you earned their respect?" Moonracer asked, looking back at me with interest.

"They needed a home. I gave them one. Of course it's a bit more than that. The technology and infrastructure left by the Grondians, as well as the strategic location of their new worlds, have given them the power to begin fighting the Wraith on a new level." I explained.

Moonracer remained silent as I completed my explanation. There was the sort of awkward pause you get when people have run out of things to talk about and it continued until we reached one of the portable structures. This one was shaped like an octagon, with a large door on one side and a very gradual ramp leading up to it. We ascended this and passed the trapezoidal entrance, which slid apart on our approach, without notice or fuss. Beyond was a very large room dominated by large holographic projection system composed of a sunken pit in the center of the floor surrounded by a set of low walls…well, walls to me. They were pretty much tables for the Cybertronians. I couldn't see what was on top of them, but thin lines of light suggested they were control consoles made up of interactive holograms.

Above the pit hung a large…well it looked like a lamp, since it illuminated the room like one, but it was also possibly part of the main projection system, since a large, three-dimensional display of New Athos' solar system was hanging just a little ways below it. Assembled around the image were a group of familiar metal faces: Bulkhead, Afterlight and of course, Elita One. There were some others there too I didn't recognize, but I also saw Deadfall, standing between Elita and Bulkhead, looking preoccupied with one of the consoles.

As we all entered, Moonracer came to a halt and stood to attention. She was soon joined in this by Chromia. The council, however, took no notice of us at first. They were busy discussing something. We had arrived just as Afterlight had begun to speak.

"The matter of Shockwave is far from a secondary concern. At present we still have no idea if he knows our location or what his intentions are. The one-eyed rust-bin is a demented genius. It would be in our best interest to find out exactly what he is up to before he has a chance to execute it. I've fought him before and seen what he's capable of. I dread to think what he could do should he go unchecked."

The tall white Cybertronian was answered by a shorter, squatter brown and tan 'bot that looked to be built out of a tank.

"He's gone unchecked for three-thousand years if what he told us was true. And he's a master manipulator. You aren't the only one who's fought him. He may be trying to lure us into an ambush." the colossus said, before directing a glare at Deadfall.

"He may already be succeeding." he grumbled. This earned him a cold stare from Deadfall's blank visor and an equally venomous glare from grey and red behemoth built like a giant with shoulder pads so big they were linked behind his head and Elita One. The others gave no response to the snide comment.

"Warpath…" growled the grey and red giant. The shorter, brown and tan 'bot didn't look apologetic, but there was sort of easing of tensions as he looked away in a huff. I marked him as 'unfriendly' and refocused on a green Autobot with spiky armor who had chosen this moment to speak.

"We've been exploring the vessel for a considerable time now and we've mapped most of the interior. We've just started exploring the labs…it's hard to tell what went on in there, given the considerable damage done by the failure of all the major computers and interfaces. All we have to go on is what Hardwire recovered, and there hasn't been much progress there either. Most of the data relating to the…'experiments' is corrupted, damaged or heavily encrypted." he explained.

"We've had two weeks to sift through those data stores. Have we found anything even remotely useful?" Elita asked.

"Very little, actually. There's a great deal of data on the layout of the galaxy, star maps and navigation charts, as well as biological data on both the humans and the Wraith, There are some fragments of what look like crew logs too, but apart from that, everything else is still corrupted, fragmented and nigh unreadable." the Autobot answered.

Elita's face took on an expression of tired frustration.

"Thank you, Crosshair. I suppose there's nothing left to discuss." she sighed.

"Admiral?" Afterlight said, with a confused, inquiring tone.

"Until we have more information, there's no point in taking any action. Our first goal should be to search for the Cube, certainly. But Shockwave is, at present, in possession of unidentified powers, an unspecified number of advantages and highly advanced technology. He's been here far longer than us and he obviously isn't pleased by our presence. He's an unknown element, and until we have more intelligence, the potential damage he could do to us does not bear thinking of. The best option we have is not to attract attention. If he thinks us destroyed, let him treasure that illusion."

"Then what do we do?" the red and grey giant with huge shoulder pads asked.

"We fortify our defenses. We make allies. We gather intelligence. And most of all, we tend to our people. "Elita said. Then she gave the short, brown and tan Autobot a cold stare.

"All our people." she said, putting emphasis on the first word. The Autobot who was the target of her irritation grumbled, but did not challenge her by staring back.

"Good, dismissed." the Autobot Admiral said. The Autobots did not salute as they filed out past me, Moonracer, Chromia and my companions. They were silent too. As they exited, Warpath, the tan and brown bot, shot Deadfall a final withering look, which she ignored, not even bothering to look up from her work which she had returned to as soon as the dismissal had been given.

When the last of the Autobots had exited, Elita finally turned her attention to me.

"Captain, it is good to see you have recovered. For a long time I worried that you might not ever awaken." she said, looking me over with her glowing blue eyes.

"Well I figure I've collected a lot of good karma over the years…trouble is I burn through it about as fast as I gather it." I joked. The humor was ill-suited to its audience however. All it got me was a confused look. I cleared my throat uncomfortably.

"Anyway, if you don't mind my asking, what was all that about?" I went on, pointing my one working thumb back over my shoulder in the direction which the Autobots had retreated.

"We were attempting to determine our next course of action. We've been living in the moment since the crash, with no proper plan as to where we should go or what we should do next. We were trying to prioritize our objectives in light of what little we know of the present situation. Unfortunately, we are operating with too little information to make any kind of meaningful decision, as you saw. Unless we find out just what happened here three-thousand years ago and what that one-eyed cretin has been up to since then, there is simply nothing to do but wait and prepare for the next move, whatever that may be."

"I may not be a master strategist, but that doesn't sound like a very good strategy. I thought you'd at least have started looking for the Allspark." I said in response.

Elita gave Deadfall a glance and grunted,

"Well on that front, it appears that things aren't as simple as they first seemed." she muttered.

"Meaning what?" I inquired.

Deadfall chose this moment to join in, speaking directly to me while not deviating from her work with the holographic controls.

"I have remembered much…and through careful study, applied what I have remembered to the cause of the greater good, Captain. It is through these studies that I have discovered a most…unfortunate fact: we cannot use your Stargate."

"What?! Why not!?"

"The Stargate was never designed to transport Energon, not surprising since it is a quite unique material which I doubt the designers would have ever encountered. Suffice to say, it reacts poorly when broken down and reassembled by the device's molecular deconstruction and transportation sequence. If we were to use it to transport ourselves, the Stargate's internal mechanisms would burn out. It would be rendered useless."

"So you're basically saying that if you tried to use the Stargate network to hop around the galaxy, any gate you happened to use would get its circuits fried?" I asked, thoroughly surprised by this discovery. Deadfall nodded.

"It is not inconceivable that I could develop a workaround for this, but I have neither the parts, nor the knowledge. It would take considerable effort and time to apply the upgrades to all of us as well. At present, if we are to travel, it must be with your ship or something similar. We ourselves are capable of spaceflight in our alternate forms, but our system-to system FTL capacities are limited without a ship, perhaps no more than ten light-years at a time. Given the vastness of space and the number of solar systems, this is a serious hindrance to our traveling efforts." she explained. I nodded slowly.

"And given the size of the galaxy and the limitations of your own personal FTL drives, searching the galaxy ten light-years at a time would be…"

"Most undesirable, yes." Deadfall finished, "Unless you can provide alternate means of transport or perhaps a preexisting map of this galaxy, we could well spend the rest of our days wandering this galaxy star by star. What we need is a way to sweep over it quickly and efficiently. Normally that would entail us having a ship. Our vessels, when they left Cybertron, were all equipped with the most powerful sensor arrays we could construct. They allowed us to scan whole star clusters for even the faintest readings of Energon."

"I assume that the one onboard that ship out there…"

"Irreparably damaged, yes. "

"As you can see, we're in a bit of a deadlock here." Elita said, cutting off the ex-Decepticon.

"Well I may be able to help you there…but I don't know if you'll like what I have to say." I said. The best thing to do was to get the offering out of the way and hear their response. It was like pulling off a bandage.

"Yes?" Elita said.

"I came here in part to talk to you about forming a military alliance with the Travelers. They sent me because they thought you might trust me more, mine being the first friendly face you met when you arrived in this galaxy." I began. Elita opened her mouth to say something, and I rushed on to forestall any words.

"I would never ask you to do this if I didn't think it would end up helping you a lot. They're prepared to offer you quite a bit in exchange for your help." I rushed out. Elita gave me a look that told me my words were being weighed on internal scales. Finally, she answered.

"We have spent ten thousand of your years in search of the Allspark. We grieve for what the Wraith have done to you and the peoples of this galaxy, but consider what I have to contend with. My people are on the brink of extinction. The Allspark is our only hope of restoring my people. It may already be too late for all I know. We simply do not have the resources to fight a second war."

"Then don't. Teach us how to fight." I said in response. That seemed to surprise Elita.

"I've taught the Travelers all I know about warfare, and it isn't much. I don't even know how much of it is viable with the technology they…we have to contend with. But you know about war. You've been a space-faring race for ten-thousand years and you've probably seen more war than anyone has a right to see. Teach them what you know. Teach them how to fight the Wraith." I continued. I could see my words were having an effect, though I had no idea what it meant.

"You're an Admiral for God's sake, you know more about space warfare than probably anyone else in the galaxy. The Travelers have spent all their time in space running and hiding. They're very good at it. Now they need to fight."

Elita's face contorted as if she were wrestling with her own conscience. I was pretty sure part of her would be more than happy to help us, but I could see she was hesitant about teaching battle tactics to people she had known for all of two weeks.

"I shouldn't really tell you this. I'm not supposed to know myself, but suffice to say, we've just recently found a major weakness in the support structure of the Wraith. If we hit it at the right time, we could deal them a blow they'll never be able to recover from. All I'm asking in return is that you teach us enough to fend for ourselves." I finished. Part of me felt guilty at exploiting Larrin's trust in me by using that information to try and tip the scales. But, happily, it was quashed by the Autobot's reaction.

"If I do this, what are you prepared to offer in return?" she said hesitantly.

"I just told your cousin here about the Grondians. The Travelers have occupied and begun using what they left behind, but that's not limited to their colonies and technology." I said choosing my words carefully, just like Elizabeth had taught me, "The Grondians came here from a distant galaxy after being driven out by a superior military power. They spent centuries looking for a new home, going from galaxy to galaxy until they ended up here. They kept extremely detailed logs of their journey and everything they encountered-"

"And you believe they might've encountered the Allspark?" Elita finished.

"Maybe…or they might've gotten some clues to its location." I said, "At the very least it might save you some time."

That last line had probably been a bad idea. Nevertheless, it appeared I had struck a chord with the Autobot leader.

"I will speak with my people, but I believe they will accept your terms." Elita said.

Just as I was letting out an internal sigh of relief and beginning to work on how I was going to tell Larrin about this, the light overhead changed color.

Green-blue light filled the room as the image of New Athos suddenly shrank to a dot, which vanished in a cloud which, in turn, was surrounded by other clouds which shrank further and further until hanging in the middle of the holographic display was perfect three-dimensional render of the Pegasus Galaxy. The sight was so sudden, so spectacular, that it took me a moment to realize that Deadfall was muttering, and another to realize that the other Autobots had already realized this and were focusing on her.

"What are you doing?" Elita inquired, surprise clear in her voice.

"I remember…I remember…a cold place full of ice and snow. A secret place…there!" Deadfall said, working the console under her fingers with dexterity and speed. As she did, the galaxy suddenly grew at tremendous speed as if the projector were rushing into its depths at an insane speed, moving faster and faster until it came to a stop so sudden that I flinched.

As my eyes adjusted to the new image, they saw a strange sight indeed. It was a five-star system, literally. Five solar bodies sat in the center of a complex array of lines detailing orbits for what must've been fifty-six planets of various types and sizes, not including moons. I did my best to apply what I had learned about astronomy in my time as Captain to the image. Four of the stars were yellow giants, healthy, reasonably long-lived stars like Earth's sun. The fifth was a red giant, a yellow star nearing the end of its life. The projection centered in on a singular planet, with a variety of environments with green and tan regions, but dominated by a massive northern polar ice cap.

"What is this place?" Moonracer said, speaking for the first time since our conversation had ended.

"A forgotten place, a place with no name…a place where something was hidden, something important." Deadfall said. When this earned her six confused stares, she shrugged.

"I was decoding the star chart data and…I just… remembered. I don't know how, and I don't know why but I know from the bottom of my Spark there's something there that can answer our questions, something Shockwave wanted buried." she continued. I looked at Elita One. She was wearing a look of mixed suspicion and hope.

"You can take us there?" I asked.

"I think I could…but I'm not sure if it's a good idea…" the ex-Decepticon said hesitantly.

"You think it could be too dangerous?" Elita inquired.

"No. I remember that there's no one guarding it. He never expected anyone to find it."

"So why is it dangerous?" I reiterated.

"It might be the thing itself…whatever he hid…I don't know. I just know that going there to look completely uninformed is probably a bad idea." Deadfall said.

"That's never stopped me before. The whole Atlantis expedition was based on a premise like this." I said, all the while trying to un-think the treacherous thought: 'And look where it got you'.

"I will not condone an expedition until we know more. Besides, we are ill-equipped to mount any kind of reconnaissance. We have no ship for one thing." Elita replied.

"Give it two days and the _Ascension_ will be back in the sky." I said, "Besides, I think I can get backup from the Travelers. I assume you told them of the threat that Shockwave represents. They're the kind of people who don't like loose ends."

This earned me a glare from Elita.

"I hope you will not take it as an offense if I state that you do not seem to be in a condition to be doing anything of the sort. You have been crippled helping us once already, Captain. I could never live with myself should you die trying to involve yourself in what is, as far as I am concerned, a Cybertronian matter."

I nearly burst out laughing.

"You think this has nothing to do with me?! I may not be from this galaxy, but this is where I live right now, and so do thousands of people! Now unless I'm really deaf or really stupid or both, it seemed to me that he was talking about taking over the galaxy, and I seriously doubt that having him as self-elected President of the Pegasus is going to be a big improvement over the Wraith running the show!" I blurted out.

Elita seemed angered by my outburst, but I was not going to be talked down to, not even by a giant robot.

"You didn't set out to make this our problem. In fact, judging by what Shockwave said, this was going to be our problem sooner or later anyway. Your showing up here had nothing to do with the fact that he's on a 'rule the universe' kick. Now, I understand that going to look at this place little or no information is probably a bad idea, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. If we don't, the likelihood that he's going to jump out of the shadows and reduce us to molten slag and greasy smears when we least expect it increases exponentially. It's the only lead we've got, and if we don't take it, something tells me the consequences won't be limited to just us."

Elita opened her mouth as if to shoot back a high-minded retort, then stopped and shut it. She glared at me. I suspected that her interaction with organics and other races had been, up until now, limited to telling them that her war was not their war. And now, here I was, tiny little thing, with the lifespan of a mayfly, telling her that it was. And she knew it. That had to be frustrating.

"How large are your ship's hangars and cargo bays?" Deadfall asked, breaking the charged silence.

"Pretty large…why what are you thinking?" I responded, happy to extricate myself from the glare Elita and I had been sharing.

"About the transportation problem…I may have an idea."

"You want to ride in our hangars?" I asked.

"If they are large enough they may be able to accommodate some of us to join you in this effort. And if you can provide other ships as support…well I feel that we may be safe enough."

"Are you certain?" Elita asked, still eyeing me somewhat frostily.

"Within a reasonable margin of doubt, yes. We could approach to the very edge of the system or enter in an area where it is easy to hide and do some heavy covert scanning, possibly even launch a probe or two. That would not trigger the alert systems." she explained.

"Suddenly there's an alert system?" I asked, suspicious.

"Shockwave is not an idiot. I do not know if there is an alert system, but all my prior experiences with him that have resurfaced say he would not count on secrecy and stellar geographical barriers alone to ensure this place stayed buried." she said in response. I turned back to Elita.

"Look, if we don't go and at least look at what's there, we'll still be wondering when that one-eyed talking clock unleashes whatever dark little plan he's got in store for us."

I could see that on the inside Elita was writhing in indecision. She was an Admiral, and therefore a tactician and the root of all bad tactics lay in either bad information or a lack thereof. At the same time, she no doubt was thinking the same thing as me, that doing this was a hell of a risk. If I were Shockwave, I would've already sent a couple of ships to find out if we'd been reduced to slag as he'd planned. The fact that he hadn't said he was up to something that I couldn't imagine. Or that he was just over confident…but that didn't seem likely. If we were to, as Rodney had once put it, 'poke the sleeping dragon', this might just end in New Athos being reduced to cinders from space instead of from the ground.

But risks had to be taken. If you didn't take risks, your enemy already had you beaten. Finally a decision was made somewhere behind those shining blue eyes...optics, whatever.

"Before I assign anyone to help you in this, Captain, I want you to prove to me that you can do this safely. I must think of the safety of my people as you must think of the safety of yours. Incurring Shockwave's wrath prematurely is not something I am prepared to deal with."

Those words triggered a memory within me and for a moment I saw Elizabeth Weir talking to John Sheppard on my first day in the Pegasus, refusing to authorize a rescue unless he could prove he had an advantage. It was funny how the past has a tendency to recur…

"If I can show we have an advantage, would that be enough?"

Elita hesitated, clearly considering my offer. After a while she looked back at me.

"Yes. But only if that advantage proves to be of sufficient benefit."

"Alright then." I said.

I turned to leave and gave the Admiral a wave.

"I'll be in touch. Give me a day." I said. Then together, my companions and I strode out the door, which opened automatically, down the ramp beyond and back into the midst of the camp.

"Captain, are you really sure you can come up with an advantage?" Illidin asked behind me, though not too loudly. I stopped for a moment, looking around at the camp and its titanic occupants.

"For once, yes, I think I can, actually." I responded, "First we need to convince the Travelers to haul the Jumper back to the ship, and then I need to talk to Elizabeth. I'm going to try something old on our new enemy."

Then as we resumed walking, I added, under my breath so only I could hear: "I just hope to hell it works."


	12. Chapter 11: Interludes

Chapter 11: Interludes

"You want to do what?!" Elizabeth said incredulously. We were sitting in my quarters on either side of the small table which allowed the occupant to eat meals alone if they so wished.

"Cloak, while keeping the shield active." I said flatly.

"I don't even know if that's possible!" she said in the same shocked tone.

"Oh, come on!" I said, "You know it's possible! You said you turned Atlantis' entire shield into a cloak to hide from the Wraith a bunch of times! Hell, I was still there when you did it during the Siege!"

"It's not a question of size Aiden!" she said, frustration creeping into her tone, "When we hid Atlantis we always had at least one ZPM powering it, and even then, the cloak didn't complement the shield, it replaced it! We turned ourselves into sitting ducks, and it's a miracle we weren't blasted to smithereens even then!"

"You seriously can't find a way to get me both?" I said, a little surprised this information.

"Not unless you want to try and convince Larrin to install a second set of shield emitters, which would probably take another month. Also, what do you think she'll ask for in exchange?" Elizabeth shot back. I shuddered at the idea. At this rate I was going to burn through all my potential exchange cards in a week. Elizabeth adopted a mentoring, soothing tone as she continued.

"Look, you know enough about Ancient tech to know how this works. Shields and cloaks don't mix all that well. Furthermore, it's all about power. You can have one or the other with our power plant, not both. Besides, keeping both up would require installing an entirely new network of emitters to work as the cloak. The ones we already have can't do two things at once, and, as I've said, even if you have an entire secondary system for the cloak, it takes up more energy, making the shield weaker. Also, a secondary system takes up more space, and the _Ascension_ is pretty crammed as it is."

I held up my hand before she could go into full 'Encyclopedia Elizabeth' mode.

"Ok, scratch that. Can you make do with just the cloak?" I tried.

Elizabeth's look of annoyance didn't waver, but she responded after a mere three seconds.

"Yes, I can get you a cloak, but only if you're willing to cut half the power to the weapons as well." she finished.

"What!?" I exploded.

"The cloak we used, and therefore which I am going to use, isn't very energy efficient. Add on top of all the other systems on the ship and you put the power-plant under a lot of strain. Whenever we ran the cloak on Atlantis, we cut power to a lot of other systems, like when a submarine runs silent. You need to sacrifice power somewhere or risk burning out your energy source. It's also probably going to be harder because if I have gained any insight into how you think over the years, then I'm right to suspect that you're going to try and bring some other ships along in case you get found out. That means spreading the cloak out, and pulling even more power from the core, which of course means even less power for all the other systems", she explained patiently.

"Look, I need to know how to get into this place undetected-"I began.

"Even though you haven't a clue as to what's waiting for you, what kind of defenses you're up against or even if there's anything there!" Elizabeth snapped.

"Well, if we don't go and look, we'll never know now, will we!?" I snapped back.

There was an unpleasant silence while we both glared at each other across the table. Technically I wasn't glaring at her, just her hologram, which was just a step above empty air, but it served its purpose. Finally I decided to try and change the tone of the discussion.

"Anything an enemy goes to great lengths to hide is generally a weakness…but with this guy, he's probably had to hide his strength too…it could be an advantage maybe some technology…hell, it could be a staging ground. The only way to know for sure is to check."

"I think it might be a good idea if you sent someone else to do this."

Part of me wanted to scream in frustration. Another part of me knew she was right. I had been avoiding confronting the fact that the loss of my arm meant I couldn't do things the same as before. I couldn't go on a Wraith-killing spree with one arm. I couldn't fly the Jumper. I had lost a lot of things with my arm. I wasn't ready to face it. But here it was, staring me in the face all the same. I gritted my teeth.

"Just because I'm crippled doesn't mean I won't do what I have to." I said.

"I really don't think this is a good idea." Elizabeth said.

"You told me to stop having brushes with death." I said, my face adopting as stern an expression as I could manage, "I'm listening to you. I'm looking for ways to decrease the risk. But at the same time, I cannot walk away or delegate this to someone else. I burned my arm off to stop this metal maniac once. I need to find a way to keep him from doing worse to everyone else."

Elizabeth seemed to think on that one for a moment before replying.

"Alright. I'll try and find a balance that makes you happy."

"Good. I'm going to talk to Larrin about getting some reinforcements." I said. I rose and turned to leave.

"Ford," Elizabeth said, her tone going right to my heart. It was the same one she had always used when wishing me and my team luck before a mission, back when I had been part of Atlantis.

"We've had experience fighting the Wraith. We know how they fight. We know how they think…to some degree anyway. This new enemy…we don't know what to expect."

She drummed her fingers and looked away with a worried expression.

"Just…be careful." she said finally. This time I wasn't flippant.

"I'll do my best." I said solemnly. This seemed to reassure her, but not a lot.

After that little conversation, the next thing I did was seek out Larrin. When I found her, she was looking over some of the blueprints for the _Ascension_ with another Traveler in one of the port-side hangars.

"Hey, Larrin!" I said by way of greeting. She looked up from the sheets of plasti-paper spread over the surface of some cargo crates with an expression of mild amusement.

"Captain." she responded, "What can I do for you?"

"I need some reinforcements."

This earned me a confused look that slowly morphed into amusement.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she said, grinning.

"When am I not?" I said, sending back as stern a look as I could manage.

"Quite often, actually. What kind of reinforcements are we talking about, and what for?"

"Three or four small ships, just whatever you can spare. Make sure they're fast, though. I'm going to take them scouting." Larrin's eyes narrowed at my words.

"You're not going to go looking for those shipyards are you?"

"No. I'm looking for a different kind of trouble." I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Larrin asked, her look becoming one of full-on suspicion.

"Send him away first. I'd rather not say this in front of anyone I don't know."

Larrin's companion looked offended.

"Are you calling Pavel a spy?" Larrin said, looking mock-insulted. She knew this was playful bantering, but it lent some fun to bizarre relationship we shared as adventurer and supplier.

"No, I'm not. I just don't want him to hear this in case he laughs at how bad an idea it is." I said, rolling my eyes, "I have a reputation to keep."

Larrin gave short laugh, and then waved 'Pavel' away.

"Alright, what's the big fuss?" she asked.

"My friends got a lead on Shockwave. I need help checking it out." I said. Larrin's expression of mild amusement morphed into a very different one, one that was stern with a professional air.

"Have your new friends have committed anything to this?" she asked.

"Not yet. I'm hoping they'll change their tune once I come back with more than one ship."

"Why aren't they helping?"

I sucked in a breath and tried to think of something to say that wouldn't render my request a moot point.

"We don't know what to expect. We're flying in blind, which is why I said 'scouting'. No fighting will be required hopefully."

"You didn't answer my question." she said in a flat monotone. I tried desperately to try and think of the right thing to say…and gave up.

"They don't want to lose anyone without cause."

Larrin raised an eyebrow. Then she held the eyebrow and raised me a further eyebrow.

"They're a dying people Larrin. They're trying to avoid war right now. The fact that I even got them to agree to train you speaks for itself." I said. Larrin's eyebrows lowered, but her suspicion remained, underneath the surface.

"Look, this is pretty much all we have to go on right now. If we leave this unchecked, then I have a creeping suspicion that even if we somehow finish off the Wraith someday, then this bastard is going to jump out of the shadows and tear us a new one while we're celebrating."

I could tell that I had planted some doubt in her. Larrin had never known me to lie and she could see how serious I was about this. I could see the wheels working behind her eyes, a little trick Dr. Weir had taught me over time, reading body language. She didn't like the idea of an unknown threat out there in the dark, waiting to jump out and lay waste to the galaxy any more than I did. As a warrior, like me, she knew the best weapon against an unknown enemy was information. Every bit of data was a weapon in your hands if the enemy didn't know you had it. Getting information was never an easy thing. The enemy was just as determined to protect his secrets as you were to protect yours. The trick was to outsmart him.

I knew this train of thought because it had gone through my mind before as well. Eventually Larrin's face softened a bit.

"I'll talk to the council about it. I can get you two, maybe three, but it'll be up to the remaining Captains from there on as to whether or not they want to join you." she said.

"You're sure you can't get more? I mean you are pretty much the biggest name in the Traveler military." I asked, probably pushing my luck more than was healthy.

"Yes, I am. We're preparing for war, Ford. The Travelers have never been to war, not for a hundred-thousand years. Surviving against the Wraith has little to do with waging a full-scale galactic war."

There wasn't really anything you could say against that…but there was something I could do.

"You saw the recording of what happened in the bridge of the Cybertronian ship, right?" I asked.

"Yes." she said, and I saw a shiver go through her. I felt one of my own run up my spine involuntarily at the memory of that terrible red eye and that awful voice…if you could call it a voice.

"I'll get Elizabeth to give you a copy. Show it to them. Make sure they understand that this is important." I said firmly. Larrin nodded.

"Anything else?" she asked. Somewhere in my mind, a little memory drew itself to attention.

"Yes. I want you to talk to your intelligence people. I know they're just starting out but there's a rumor I want to investigate..."

Later, after Larrin and I had parted ways I went to the mess hall (one of the big reminders that I was flying around in a ship built to be run with a crew of a hundred and fifty people) and called for my crew to gather with me.

Kiryk was still off-world of course, but everyone else made it. They all looked…tired. I could see dark circles under many of their eyes. Shaal' Maia's eyes were a little red around the edges. Had she been crying?

When they had all found seats I stood to speak.

"Alright, I know I've been away for a while, but I wanted you all to know I'm very proud of how well you've kept things moving." I said in my best authority-voice, "With that said, it looks as though our days of fighting for the people are taking a turn for the strange.

"I assume you all saw the records of what happened onboard the crashed ship?" I asked. No one said yes. They just nodded. I could see various responses on their faces. Illidin shivered almost imperceptibly. The color drained somewhat from Lennann's face.

"Good, because we've got a new mission…" I said. I took a deep breath.

"You saw what we're facing. You see what he did to me. You know what he's capable of. We cannot let a threat like that run amok in this galaxy. He could end up upsetting the entire balance of power all over again. But we don't know enough to do anything, not yet." I explained, "However, we've found where there is something to be known."

"What do you mean?" asked Thoren.

"Our new friends have located a planet where there may be something that could tell us more about this new enemy, or, better yet, provide us with some kind of advantage. Now frankly I don't know what we're flying into, but I'm doing my best to hedge our bets. We'll be accompanied by some Traveler ships and cloaked. We won't be fighting hopefully. This is supposed to be a scouting mission."

I paused while I watched the crew chew this over. I knew they'd line up behind me. I was not disappointed.

"So when do we leave?" Illidin asked. I grinned.

"In a couple of days. They've almost finished restoring the _Ascension_ to her former glory and I need to talk with Elita One. She's going to be lending us some support on this run."

"They'll be coming with us?"

"Not all of them. She's going to pick some of her best, and they'll come along inside the hangar bays. I don't expect we'll be getting in any fights, but I think if we're going to get into a mess with Cybertronians, it'd be good to have some on our side too."

I turned to Thoren.

"Thoren, I need you to talk to Larrin and get a gene inoculation. I don't dare fly the Jumper, not like this," I said to him, holding up my withered arm, which I had injected with more antibiotics before coming to this meeting, "but I know I can trust you to fly it in my place."

The man's face took on a look of anxiety.

"Captain, I've never-"he began, but I cut him off.

"You've seen me fly it dozens of times. It's as easy as it looks. Just point and think." I said. There was another thoughtful silence on the part of everyone present. Finally, I was the one who broke it.

"One last thing: Roland," I said, turning to the young knight of Mordecai, "I need you to go to Childhood's End and fetch Kiryk. I know he's been on shore leave, but I have a feeling we're going to need everyone on this run."

"As you wish." he answered with that chivalrous tone of his. I nodded in appreciation.

"Good. Thank you all for attending. This ends the meeting." I said curtly. Slowly, the crew wandered off, nodding to me as they departed. They knew I never prepared speeches and didn't enjoy addressing groups. It was something Dr. Weir had fruitlessly tried to teach me to overcome when educating me about diplomacy.

When I was finally alone I sighed. Part of me wondered if I was doing right by them, constantly bringing them on my death defying exploits. Most of them had started out as farmers and village guards. Roland had been wielding a sword and riding a horse when he had lived in Mordecai. Lennann had never seen a computer until I had rescued her from the Hive Ship I had found her on. Inside I wondered if my insane lifestyle might be affecting them without my realizing it…

My mind drifted randomly to the subject of my recent life and I then wondered if what I was doing was repeating the mistakes the Atlantis Expedition had made when it had first come to the Pegasus. It had been our innocuous rescue mission that had awakened the Wraith in the first place. Now I couldn't help but wonder if I was poking another sleeping dragon.

"Ford?"

Anyone else might've jumped out of their skin, but I had gotten used to Elizabeth appearing without warning.

"Yes?" I asked, not looking in her direction.

"What do you plan on doing next?" she asked.

I paused to think. Then I answered as best I could.

"Get ready to face the unknown, I guess…"


	13. Chapter 12: Points of Departure

Chapter 12: Points of Departure

The rest of that day passed uneventfully, as did the next. The day after that, most of the Travelers began to clear out, taking their tools and machinery with them. Where they departed, they left the _Ascension_ looking remarkably unblemished and new. They also administered the Ancient gene therapy to Thoren as I had requested and I made sure to test it by having him fly the Jumper around the planet twice (despite appearances, Ancient Puddle-Jumpers were incredibly, nay, INSANELY fast). I also called in one more tiny favor from Larrin to get a small, wireless earpiece-headset made, one which would allow me to converse with Elizabeth without having to use Thoren's tablet. This didn't allow her to hack things or see things like the tablet did, but it did save me the trouble of constantly having to stay next to Thoren in order to talk to her.

Inside I knew I should be running the ship out for a shakedown cruise instead of taking on a new mission right away, but somehow I suspected that time was of the essence. Later that evening, Larrin contacted me from New Grondia via the Stargate and informed me that I had four ships I could count on, three of which were already on their way and the fourth of which was mopping up some Wraith before making the rendezvous at New Athos. Finally, Elizabeth informed me that she had balanced out the power distribution to a reasonable extent. With this knowledge, I gathered myself together and went out to face Elita.

As I exited the _Ascension_, the cooling air was mixed with a fog that made my bad arm itch. It had been very tricky for me during the last two days, trying to do tasks I had been doing for all my life with one arm. At times, parts of me wanted to scream in frustration. I had persevered, though. I guess it might've been denial or maybe I was still in shock, but my being crippled still hadn't hit me yet. Also, I suppose on another level, I felt it wasn't as bad as it might've been. I still had my legs and one arm. People could get by on much less. Perhaps if I kept telling myself that, then the wave of despair hovering over me might never come down.

I wore my combat gear and coat for the occasion. Thankfully I was able to commission one last two-way ride from one of the Traveler hovercrafts to the Autobot encampment. Most had already departed with the completion of Larrin's refit.

As I approached it, saw that the 'defensive emplacements' I had witnessed being carted into place two weeks previously and the day before yesterday were nearly all complete. They stood like random trees in the landscape, except instead of branches and bark they were essentially metal podiums and pillars topped by huge multi-barreled assault guns. They were connected by large cables and wires to the massive barrel-like generators I had seen two weeks back, which now thrummed with power.

There were also what appeared to be guards, Autobots who, at present, were simply standing around near some of the new structures which I had seen two days ago. They eyed me as I went past, but for the most part their expressions were ones of interest and /or boredom. Other Cybertronians were milling around engaged in various tasks whose purpose I couldn't fathom.

I spotted Elita speaking to Bulkhead after ten minutes of searching for the tall, spiky white and magenta frame of the Autobot Admiral. It always amazed me that she could pick me out amidst the milling metal legs of her own troops, but despite everything, she did. She waved me over, which on a very deep, subconscious level annoyed me. Her little gesture made me feel like I was being summoned…which I was…sort of. I was here to prove that I had what it took to warrant her sending some of her people with me.

I broke off the convoluted attempt to be angry and approached the massive Autobot.

"Ah, Captain! I presume you've come about the planned investigation?" she said congenially.

"Yes. You said not to come to you until I could prove I had an advantage, right?"

This earned me a narrowing of Elita's eyes.

"Well I've got four extra ships on the way to join up with us. And I've got technology that'll render my ship invisible to just about anything. Is that enough of an advantage for you?"

The Autobot's eyes narrowed and she seemed to be thinking my words over. For a moment I thought she was going to say no and a part of me wondered what the hell I would do if she did...

"Very well, Captain." she said, mildly startling me, "I will give you fifteen of my people…and six of our…guests to assist you. I hand-picked them yesterday should you come back successful."

My eyebrows rose. That last line had thrown me. She had expected my success, had she? But then she was a military…woman, unlike Elizabeth. When Elizabeth had given my old superior Colonel Sheppard a similar ultimatum, she had been hesitant to authorize his mission even after he had come up with a winning plan. Elita though was obviously more used to risk-taking.

She beckoned me to follow her and turned to enter the crowd of Autobots.

"This way, please."

I followed her for five minutes until we came to the…tactical hut that I had met her in two days ago. She must've summoned the bots in question via her internal communications, because there was already a small crowd outside it. I examined it and saw, just as promised, fifteen pairs of blue eyes and five pairs of red eyes…and one black visor. Deadfall was here too.

"Admiral." she said in a casual voice, "I see the Captain managed to win you over!"

"Mostly…I see you have done as I asked…" Elita replied. I noted that she did not look at Deadfall when she spoke. Clearly there was still quite a bit of tension between these new allies. I could only hope it wouldn't cause any massive problems during the mission. The last thing I needed was giant robots beating the crap out of each other onboard my ship. After all, it had just been put back together.

"Six of my more trustworthy friends, as you requested. I will guarantee their loyalty with my life if it makes you feel any better."

"Not really. I assume you have filled them out on the details of what the Captain has in mind?"

"Indeed. They understand the risks and stand ready to lend assistance."

Elita nodded curtly and looked over the ex-Decepticons standing by Deadfall with a resentful glare. I could tell she did not approve of bringing former enemies on what was probably going to be a very important mission. Then she turned began to introduce the Autobots, pointing them out as she named them.

"Captain, this is Deidras, Stormfront, Sunbeam, Enigma, Blueshift, Syzygy, Swordbreaker, Windcatcher, Trackmaster, Gladiator, Divisor, Prism, Cobalt, Xilimyth and last, but not least, Sharpshot."

I took in the towering forms as they were named, and recognized a couple who I had encountered before, namely Cobalt, who had been present as Deadfall's guard during those first two days after the Autobots' arrival, and Xilimyth, whom I had observed once carrying two massive trees on her shoulders. The others were new. Before I could fully take them in though, Elita had turned to Deadfall and her group.

"And these, if I remember correctly, are Knockout, Blackarachnia, Breakdown, Longshot and Sidewinder." she said, eyeing each in turn with disapproval.

"I selected them myself. There were a few others I hoped to bring, but you said to keep the group small." Deadfall said. There was a brief, tense silence in which it became clear to me that while Deadfall was doing her best to show that these ex-Decepticons were 'reformed' there was clearly still some ugly history hanging between them and the Autobots. When the battle of the stares had gone on for a year too long I risked life and limb and cut it off.

"Anyway, I'd love to get to know each of you better," I said, after clearing my throat and glancing at each of the towering robots, "and I'm sure there will be time for that during the journey, but I'd like to get going as soon as possible. We'll be meeting up with some support ships in orbit, after which we'll be heading straight on to our destination. I've had my friend Elizabeth draw up some basic directions to get you into our onboard storage bays and hangars, where you will spend most, if not all, of your time. Any questions?"

The two parties remained mute, but I got a nod from most of them. Then I turned to Deadfall.

"And before we go, I'd like to talk to you too." I said, as politely as I could manage, which earned me another nod. Elita finished my speech for me.

"You heard him. You have your orders. Autobots, transform and roll out." she said firmly.

Immediately, the cluster of Autobots changed shape, each one assuming the form of a vehicle and departing with speed, their fellow Cybertronians making way for them. Caught slightly off guard by how fast things were moving, I nevertheless had the common sense to tap my new earpiece radio and call Elizabeth.

"Our guests are on their way." I said. This earned me a simple 'Understood.' from the other end. Then I turned my attention back to Deadfall.

"These friends of yours…I wasn't told I'd be bringing them along." I said to Deadfall.

"You do not trust me to ensure their loyalty to our cause?"

"Well, you did throw me fifty feet into a control room that was pretty much a blast furnace at the time." I said jokingly. I couldn't tell what effect the humor had. Deadfall had the ultimate poker face.

"If any of them decide to step out of line, I will deal with them myself. On that, you have my word. In my view Captain, you are our best hope of dealing with the situation we find ourselves in." she said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elita glower at the ex-Decepticon. Possibly she mistook the statement for a side-shot at her apparent indecision over the subject of this mission. I couldn't tell.

I looked her up and down, or rather, up and up…and decided it was worth the risk. She had risked herself in the bowels of the crashed ship too. If all else failed, I could probably trust her.

"Well, I guess we need all the help we can get." I finished.

Once that little conversation was over, I finished working out some details of the mission with Elita and then led Deadfall back to the _Ascension_. After about ten minutes of having to slow down to stay with me and my puny human pace, Deadfall got fed up and offered me a ride, which I gratefully accepted. It was a little uncomfortable sitting in her cockpit with no seatbelt or controls that I could operate, but I persevered. It was at least better than the last time I had sat there.

She landed us in one of the port-side hangar bays, next to the Jumper, which had been towed back aboard by the Travelers for Thoren's test of his gene-therapy on my orders. The little ship had carried me through a lot, and while I could no longer fly it, it could still be of considerable use, especially on this next voyage. As I hopped down from Deadfall's silvery cockpit, avoiding the various spiky protrusions on her hull, I saw that the rear of the craft was open and from inside I heard the sound of grumbling. A trail of cables and technological equipment snaked from the open hatch, which I carefully stepped over, not wanting to upset their owner further.

"By the Ancestors, you'd think there'd be a manual for this sort of thing!" said a voice I recognized as belonging to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was the onboard tech specialist. He came from a world that had almost achieved spaceflight by studying Ancient technology before the Wraith descended and put an end to it. Jeremiah had been off-world, negotiating with the people of Mordecai, Roland's homeworld, when the tide of destruction had swept down from the skies on his planet. I had recruited him for his skill with Ancient technology, and of course, his deep hatred of the Wraith. He wore a pair of small spectacles, and grumbled a lot, like most men his age that I had known, apart from my grandpa.

As I emerged from Deadfall's cockpit, she didn't bother to transform back to her humanoid state. The ceiling was a bit low for her to do so anyway, since this was one of the _Ascension's_ smaller bays. At the same time, Jeremiah with his spectacles slipping down his nose, emerged from the Jumper, his hands covered in gloves. As soon as he saw me he smiled.

"Captain! Good to see you up and about. I was just completing Doctor Weir's requirements to interface the Jumper's cloak with the shields. We're just about ready!" he said. Then he spotted Deadfall.

"And this would be one of the mysterious Cybertronians I have heard so much about, am I right?" he said.

"I'm glad to hear you're so close to finishing your work. And yes, this is De-"I began before his words sank in.

"Wait, you mean you haven't met them yet? They've been here two weeks!" I said. Jeremiah glowered.

"I've been keeping indoors mostly, holding things together." he said, then added, leaning in close, as if inviting me to join a conspiracy, "Also making sure these Travelers do their jobs right and don't make off with anything."

"They did build this ship you know…" I began hesitantly, but this earned no respect from the Pegasus-born mechanic and engineer.

"Bah, that doesn't mean anything. ", he said disdainfully. I rolled my eyes. Sometimes Jeremiah reminded me of Scotty from Star Trek, but without the kilt, accent and paunch. He pushed his spectacles back up his nose which had begun to slide off. Actually, Jeremiah was a little baffling. His world had essentially been like Earth circa 1950, but without the Cold War. Now that was all gone and he had made this ship his home. He loved and cared for it and kept it running like a well-oiled engine, despite my best efforts to get us all blown up. What was more, he didn't trust anyone else to do it right. If anyone tried to help, he shooed them away and got the job done by hand if necessary.

He strode past me, looking Deadfall over with a careful eye.

"I greet you in the name of my world, Ethon, though it no longer exists. We would've been very pleased to meet you, had you come to my planet when it was still my home. My name is Jeremiah." he said to the silver craft. Deadfall's voice emerged from the cockpit, oddly disembodied without even a black visor to attach it to.

"Greetings…Jeremiah. I am Deadfall of Cybertron. I am honored to meet one who serves alongside Captain Ford, and that you have such a…positive view of me." she replied hesitantly, as if picking over her words carefully in case she upset him somehow.

"You are a former 'Decepticon', yes? I have heard your name mentioned often these past few days."

"Yes. Once I served Megatron, but no more. I have no desire for conquest, merely for an end to the mindless conflict that has torn our people apart." Jeremiah smiled at her words.

"That is wonderful to hear." he answered cheerily. I looked between the two and shrugged.

"Well, I'll let you two talk. As for me, I need to talk to Elizabeth."

"Just so you know Captain, we still have some final touch-ups to make to the cloaking system. Also I'm making sure the Jumper is in fully operational condition, should we need it." Jeremiah said hurriedly.

"Well you'll have to finish that en route. I want to get moving as fast as possible." I answered.

"As you wish, Captain. I'll get on it."

I nodded at him and turned back to Deadfall.

"If you need me, contact Elizabeth. She'll get you in touch." I said.

"Understood." was the only reply. With that little problem sorted out. I made my exit. As soon as I was in the corridor outside the bay, Elizabeth materialized next to me and matched my stride.

"We're ready to leave at your command. The fourth Traveler ship has just entered the system and taken up position with the other three in orbit. They're waiting for your instructions." she said.

"Tell them to form up with us in a flying wedge and then transmit the destination coordinates to them. I'll brief them once we're in hyperspace. I've worked out a plan for what we'll do once we're there. Also, be sure our guests can hear me too when I'm talking to the other Captains. We need to be ready for anything, especially since we don't know anything about what we're flying into."

And I tried to ignore it when my imagination jumped out from under the rock it had been hiding under and assaulted me with all manner of nasty scenarios connected to those words.

"What's the projected time it'll take for us to get there?" I asked nonchalantly.

"I'm estimating about three hours. It's quite a ways away, but not too far."

"Good, plenty of time to get coordinated. Tell Jeremiah that's how long he has to finish up. We'll be leaving as soon as I get to the bridge." I said rubbing my hands together.

A brief walk to the bridge later, I was sitting in my simultaneously comfy and un-comfy Captain's chair staring at the main view-screen.

"How are our guests?" I asked. To my left Elizabeth's expression went blank for a second, then refocused.

"They're ready. I've got them secured in our hangars and a couple in our lower deployment bays. They all confirm readiness."

"Good, then take us up. No argument please. I want to move fast. "

Instantly, I felt the _Ascension_ shudder as hangar bays closed, ramps rose and various access ports sealed. Then a rumbling began as the repulsion drives came online, the secondary engines that allowed vertical take-offs and landings. The trees around the ship began to drop away as the _Ascension_ rose until it was about three-hundred feet above the ground, at which point it tilted its nose forty-five degrees upwards and ignited its main engines. I barely felt the g-forces as my ship burned into orbit once more, protected by its inertial dampeners.

The sky, which had already been nearly night-black, faded away as we rose at a speed that would've left the crew of an average space shuttle splattered all over their seats. In fifteen seconds flat, we were out of the atmosphere and entering orbit. The main view-screen lit up marking the growing shapes of the Traveler ships I had been expecting with little green triangles. There were four, as promised and I turned my chair to face Arorree.

"Alright, hold us here while they for up beside us. Then on my signal, lock in the coordinates and take us into hyperspace." I said. Arorree just nodded. I didn't stand on ceremony, and I never required that my crew address me as 'sir', though they often did anyway. Once I saw her acknowledgement, I turned over to Elizabeth again.

"Set a countdown for our jump so we all get in together. Then open a channel when we're in transit."

"Already done. Also, Jeremiah reports he's completed the stealth systems. We can switch from cloak to shield whenever you want."

I was a bit surprised by the speed of my engineer's work, but not caught off guard.

"Good." I said, and then decided to try and lighten the mood, since the air was loaded with a sort of dim dread.

"Phasers set to full power?" I asked Elizabeth. This unfortunately only earned me a glare from Elizabeth. I rolled my eyes.

"Never mind…" I said exasperatedly, and leaned back in my seat, then waved at the stars ahead with my good arm.

"Make it go." I grunted. Instantly the bluish-green of a hyperspace window erupted into existence. On either side of my ship, visible on the curved shape of the view-screen, the Traveler ships pulled up in a flying wedge. Then together, we lurched forward into the white light of sub-spatial travel.

It took a moment for the thrill that always came over me when entering hyperspace to subside and my ears to realize Elizabeth was talking.

"I've established a connection to the Traveler vessels. I'm opening visual communication. I'll also broadcast your words to our 'guests' too." She said. The main view port flickered and four video-windows popped open in a square formation at its center, obscuring the streaming lights. In each window was a picture of the cramped, dirty and quite run-down bridge of a Traveler ship, each with a different crew, each with a mildly different design, with wires everywhere.

I rolled my eyes. The Travelers had been constructing new ships, yes, but the old ones that had carried them through the galaxy for centuries on end were still very much in use. Each one that had landed on New Grondia during those early colonization days had received a moderate fix-up and refit before heading right back out into space, this time to defend the new homeworld of the Travelers. I had asked for help, yes, but I'd been hoping a little to be assisted by at least one of the new ships. Oh well…

"My fellow space travelers, I'm honored to have you here with me. I know you've been wondering where we're going and why. Well now that we're on the way, I'm going to tell you." I said, sitting up straighter. I examined the four bridges displayed in the video windows. Two of the captains were women. The other two were men. Only one of them looked to be over forty. Larrin had been kind enough to give me their names when she had informed me they were coming, but embarrassingly, I couldn't remember any of them. The redhead on the upper right, who looked to be about twenty-six, was examining me with the eye someone uses to size up a person's potential. She was the one who had come of her own free will, a newbie by Traveler standards, who had been a Captain for all of five years. And yes, they do make Captains that young if they show promise.

"I assume you have all watched the recording of what I encountered when I went to investigate the crashed Cybertronian vessel, right?" I asked. This received riffs on the theme of 'yes'…and one 'no'. It was from one of the male Captains, a man with graying hair and green eyes. He also had a jaw like a brick.

"Well I'll skip that part for now. Suffice to say, we may be facing the emergence of a new enemy…and a new war, if it's a worst case scenario. Now, we know next to nothing about this enemy, apart from that he's very powerful, and very secretive. However, we may have an advantage." I said. As I spoke, I watched the faces of my allies. The older captain was intrigued. The dark-haired, middle-aged man in the lower left had an expression of trepidation. The younger blonde woman on the upper left had a look of much more severe unease. Seeing the recording must've shaken her. The redhead…was still trying to assess me. In fact, she didn't seem to have heard me…

I ignored her and continued.

"Our resident ex-Decepticons have uncovered the location of a solar system that the Wraith do not visit. There's no Stargate there and it's never supported human life from what we've been told. We aren't looking at facing any defenders either, but there's probably some sort of warning system to inform our foe if we just fly in. So, here's my plan:"

I reached over to a small control panel on the armrest of my chair and pulled up a little touch-screen holographic display. I had only used this a few times before, but only because I had rarely had to coordinate attacks with other vessels. Elizabeth did her best to compensate for my inexperience in drawing battle plans with the thing to ensure I never embarrassed myself.

"We'll be exiting hyperspace inside the orbit of the yellow dwarf closest to the planet we'll be investigating. That's as far as we can get from the target planet without losing scanning viability, and I'm hoping the radiation from the star will help shield our presence. I'm basing this on the likely probability that the alarm system is set up directly around the planet in question. I want you to coordinate your scanners with my ships systems so that we can get as full and clear a picture of the planet as we can. We're taking a big risk even getting close to this system, given that we know practically nothing about our enemy's capabilities, but we'll be taking an even bigger one if we don't try to find out what they are." I said, as I pulled up a copy of the solar system as Deadfall had marked it out and placed a red triangular marker over the location I had mentioned. I finished by highlighting the target planet, with its enormous northern polar ice cap.

"So what will we be doing once we have the data?" asked the older, gray-haired captain. His name finally drifted up from the bubbling tar pits of my memory and made itself known to be Ricken.

"Well, we'll take a report back to New Grondia, by an indirect route in case we are detected and someone tries to track us. I'm trying to be as careful as possible here. Once we know exactly what we're looking at, we'll take it back for analysis and try to work out the best method of approach. I have no doubt that at some point we will actually have to try and land on the planet, but we probably shouldn't get very close until after we've brought back some data for your scientists to look over."

"What do you mean by that?" asked the redhead, whose name was Mora I recalled. I steepled my fingers as I formulated a response.

"Well, I am hoping that if it looks safe enough, we can send a shuttle or two in to do a closer examination of the planet on a return trip." I said carefully. Mora was stroking her chin at my words. The other captains looked relatively unphased.

"Alright, now that we've got that out of the way, ", I said after a brief moment of silence, "Let's get down to the details…"

It took a little less than thirty minutes to work out the plan of action for when we dropped out of hyperspace to the last detail. After that, it was all smooth sailing…well, mostly anyway.

When I cut the connection to the Traveler ships, Elizabeth looked over at me.

"Tell me, if you don't plan on going down there, at least not right away, why bring the Cybertronian support?" she asked curiously.

"Elizabeth, please." I said, "This is as much their problem we're investigating as it is ours. They deserve to be here, and they've probably had first-hand experience with whatever we might face, partially at least. Even if they don't think they have, they may just not remember, and with luck, this little foray will kick-start those circuits."

I looked around the bridge, whose occupants were all watching me, then focused on Harrick and Thoren, who were manning targeting and analysis consoles respectively.

"We'll be very close to the sun with no shields. I'd rather not stay long, but we need as clear a picture as possible of that planet. Harrick, Thoren, I need you to work some magic with the sensors." I said, before turning next to face Elizabeth's hologram.

"Can you extend our cloak to the Traveler ships?"

"You're asking me this now?"

"Can you?"

"No, but I can convert their shields to cloaks like ours. I'll get in touch with them and make it happen."

"Captain…I'm a little…unsure about whether or not this is wise…" Illidin said hesitantly from his seat next to Harrick. I sighed.

"Okay, look, for the last time, I know this seems like a really bad idea…but what other choice do we have? We can't afford to let the problem of this new enemy go unchecked. We need to know more if we plan to do anything about it." I said.

Illidin looked like he was going to try and say something else, but I held up my hand.

"I'm not discussing this anymore. I realize you have doubts. I have doubts too. But we're already on our way. This is no time for cold feet."

My crew remained silent. I could feel their unease, and tried my best to counter it with an appearance of confidence. I hid my own unease beneath a layer of self-control which I had created from years of getting myself out of trouble. It appeared to work, little tells in their actions showing that they were with me again.

"Alright, now, I'm going to try and get some rest. Kiryk has command until I get back." I said, and glanced over at Elizabeth's hologram.

"Wake me when we get there."

The sleep I got lasted about an hour and a half, too short for dreams to form that might make any impression on my mind. I woke in darkness and pain because I was lying on my bad arm. I grunted and rolled out of bed into a sitting position.

"Sire." said a voice from by my door.

"Huzzwhat?" I mumbled, shaking the cobwebs from my brain.

"The Lady Elizabeth requires your presence on the bridge. She sent me in her stead as I sought to speak with you anyway." the voice answered. Slowly my eyes adjusted to the dark and focused on the figure in the doorway, which resolved itself into the outline of Roland of Mordecai. Of course, his odd medieval speech patterns also gave him away. He spoke very…precisely and in an old-fashioned manner. I waved groggily at him and rose.

"Alright, I'm on my way." I mumbled and rose to my feet. I didn't need to dress, since I had gone to sleep in my uniform. As soon as I was on my feet, I found myself following Roland down the halls to the bridge.

"What exactly did you want to talk about?" I asked him nonchalantly as I rubbed the insufficient sleep from my eyes.

"I wanted to speak with you about this…expedition. I have no desire to go where I am not needed, but I would like to accompany the team you have assembled down to the planet, should it become possible." He said hesitantly. I rolled my eyes at the polite manner of address. But then, Roland did come from a feudal planet and had a background as a knight. It was only a mercy I had gotten him to stop bowing and being so chivalrous as to be downright misogynistic. I considered his words before responding.

"Listen, I know you're a pretty good marksman, but I don't want to risk any more lives than necessary. If things go wrong, I want you up here to manage the work Harrick should be doing. You're the best person after him who can work the weapons controls and I don't want to be caught with no one to man them should it become necessary." I explained. There was another reason, one which I didn't voice, which was that Roland, coming from a backward feudal planet, was unused to any kind of technology that wasn't made of wood. On his world, they'd never even seen a gun before until I'd arrived there, quite by accident. I didn't want him to become a hindrance with the child-like inquisitiveness that he experienced whenever we found something of interest. It had a tendency to slow him down, even in times of mortal peril.

Mercifully, he didn't question my decision, though his face assumed a disappointed expression as we meandered through the halls to the bridge, which we arrived at after no more than a minute and a half. As we entered, I examined the room. Everyone seemed just as they had been, though I noticed Illidin was not present.

"Ser Illidin sought some rest, just as you did." Roland said after observing how my eye lingered on the empty seat. I nodded and made my way to the Captain's chair, next to which stood Kiryk, in his leather Runner's clothes, almost the only things he had owned when I first met him. On his right upper arm, his golden armband's power-level lights glowed a bright green. As I sat down in my chair, he nodded to me in a manner of greeting while the white lights of hyperspace washed over the huge view-screen in front of us.

"Good to have you back." I said. The ex-Runner grunted. I felt a little guilty about no speaking with him earlier, but we'd been moving so fast, that I hadn't thought about him since sending Roland to fetch him from Childhood's End. At that moment, Elizabeth materialized on my other side.

"We're almost to the exit coordinates. I've put our fellow ships on standby notice to drop out of hyperspace when we do which should be any second now." Elizabeth said solemnly.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road." I said, pressing down on my nervous feelings as we drew closer to our destination. I took my seat in the Captain's Chair, and then wished briefly for a Captain's Table because I was feeling somewhat hungry. My arm ached in agreement.

"We've reached the coordinates. Exiting hyperspace in three...two...one." Elizabeth said. The ship rumbled and the lights of hyperspace vanished.

"Exiting hyperspace…now." Elizabeth said. The ship trembled. The main view-screen was engulfed in a flash of white light as the stretched stars of hyperspatial travel vanished. A million points of light raced to fill the void as the _Ascension_, in perfect unison with the four Traveler ships swept back out of subspace in a perfect V-formation. Immediately, dozens of holographic data-display windows popped up on the main screen.

"All ships are cloaked." Elizabeth announced seconds later, as the Traveler ships faded from view. She turned briefly to me.

I stared at the scene that now filled the screen. It was a mercy that Elizabeth had filtered the image for sunlight, because outside the ship, to our left was a solid black, yellow and orange wall, the surface of a yellow dwarf star seen up close…incredibly up close. It filled the whole of the screen. Amidst the swirling superheated gasses and endless storms, electromagnetic lightning flashed and flickered, arcing between clouds of fire bigger than whole planets.

The plan was simple enough. Originally I had intended to try and send a shuttle down, possibly the Jumper, but that hadn't lasted long. My current idea was to use the powerful sensors the Travelers had built into the _Ascension_ to get as thorough a look at the planet as possible. If no opposition presented itself, I would get a little closer, take a more detailed look, then scramble off to New Grondia, where they had people who could review my findings and help plot a proper course of action. Then, if all was well, I could come back with more firepower and maybe even land…if we could find and avoid the alarm system…and that was assuming I hadn't triggered it just by showing up here.

None of this was at the top of my mind though, because the fiery tableau outside was commanding my full and absolute attention.

"Whoa." I said lamely. I couldn't help it. Scenes like this were not commonplace, even for a frequent space traveler like me.

"I'm adjusting speed and heading and assuming a stable orbit." Elizabeth continued. Slowly, the vision of hell receded from the view-screen, pulling away to the right.

"I'm running a system-wide scan…hmmm, that's interesting." Elizabeth said.

"What?" I asked, still recovering from some of the awe induced by the close encounter with the sun.

"Take a look at this." she said. A new semi-transparent holographic overlay superimposed itself on the vision of space on the screen. Several new windows opened up, then shrank to rearrange themselves along the top of the display. The first was what I assumed was a layout of the system.

"It appears the Wraith have never been here." Elizabeth said, "Not surprising, given that it's in the middle of nowhere, a long way from any feeding ground. It also seems the chart we were given was a bit out of date, but I've compensated enough so that we get a reasonably accurate image."

"So, what're we looking at?" I asked.

"Well, it's as we already know, it's five-star system, with a quartet of yellow dwarfs and a red giant…but…"

Elizabeth stopped, hesitating.

"What?"

"There's an anomaly, a hiccup in the gravitational layout the system. One moment…"

The diagram, whose member objects had been drifting serenely along their set courses, suddenly began to move backwards at high speed. Suddenly they froze.

"I was right." Elizabeth said.

"Elizabeth, don't do that." I said irritably.

"Do what?"

"Figure things out and not explain them. That's what Rodney used to do. You hated it. I hated it. So don't do it, please."

"Sorry."

"What's the anomaly?"

"There're some bodies missing from the system."

"By bodies you don't mean corpses, do you?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"No. This is just an estimation, but from reverse-devising the patterns and orbital history of the system, five rocky planets, three gas giants, two moons and another star, possibly a white dwarf, are...missing from the system. My simulations suggest that they… just vanished about two-thousand, five-hundred years ago. I don't know why I didn't see this before…"

"What do you mean vanished? Vaporized? Destroyed? Knocked out of the system?"

"No. I mean one second they were there, the next they weren't. There's no change in the interstellar medium or any debris fields to suggest total destruction."

I mulled over this new data. The model Deadfall had shown me had hinted at nothing out of place, and certainly no missing planets or stars. I manipulated the holographic controls at my side, which was difficult to do without practice, and somehow harder with only one hand to rely on. It didn't take me long to open up a line to the bay in which Deadfall resided.

"Deadfall, we've just arrived and run a preliminary scan. According to Elizabeth there are some planets and stars missing."

"What do you mean?" asked the Cybertronian, her voice coming through a little speaker in the chair's arm.

"I mean that there're signs that some planets and an extra star were…removed from this system. Not destroyed, but taken." I explained, "Any idea how that's possible?"

There was an uncomfortable pause, but Deadfall eventually responded.

"More memories are trickling back…Shockwave…he was responsible for the rediscovery of Space Bridge technology. It was that which allowed the great arks of both the Autobots and the Decepticons to leave Cybertron. It is a science that was lost during a dark age that occurred long before the civil war, after the fall of the Dynasty of Primes"

"Dynasty of what?" I asked, confused. The whole bridge was clearly trying to listen in on the exchange. I ignored them.

"The Dynasty of Primes was the governing body of our race eons ago. When the Primes disappeared, our race fell into chaos. During that Dark Age, much of the science and technology we possessed were lost, and we were divided into warring city-states. The last Prime, Sentinel Prime, was the one who led us out of that darkness. When he ceased to function, he left Optimus and Megatron as leaders of our race."

"Wait a minute, I distinctly recall you calling Optimus a Prime too. If Sentinel Prime was the last, what does that make Optimus?"

"I know little of why Optimus began to call himself a Prime. Megatron's chief of intelligence, Soundwave, released copious amounts of propaganda, and even with my close ties to the command structure through my brother, I have never been able to fully discern the truth."

Suddenly a new voice interrupted, another Cybertronian. I didn't recognize it, but I guessed it to be one of the Autobots.

"Optimus discovered his heritage after an archeological dig relating to the Dynasty revealed evidence of his being the son of Sentinel Prime."

"Is that so?" Deadfall said, and I detected a hint of a sneer in her voice. I hastily tried to regain control of the conversation. I refused to put up with a shouting match between two old enemies. There were more important things to deal with.

"So, Space Bridges…explain." I said.

"Space Bridge technology functions in a manner similar to your Stargates, but subtly different. It can be used in a variety of fashions. The most obvious was as the basis of a faster-than-light engine for our arks, but I have seen it used as part of a personal teleportation device, and as a projection system that can transport ships without them needing to have the tech incorporated into their design."

I tried to make sense of this, but couldn't. The only possible conclusion was so outside-the-box as to be totally absurd.

"Are you saying that Shockwave...MOVED an entire star and a group of planets?" I said haltingly. Said aloud, it still sounded crazy.

"Scientifically, there is no upper limit to the scale at which the technology can be applied. Given the proper calculations and preparation, and of course, the right amount of power, you could move anything of any given size." Deadfall stated.

"She's not wrong." Elizabeth said, still focused on the system being displayed in front of me, "Still, the power requirements would be prohibitive beyond belief." Suddenly a horrible suspicion gripped me.

"What if he had a ZPM?" I asked.

"A what?" Deadfall inquired.

"A Zero-Point Module. It's a device that draws vacuum energy from a self-contained pocket of sub-space time." Elizabeth said, turning to face me, her holographic skin turning pale at my suggestion. A ZPM was the strongest and most portable power-source in the universe. Three had kept the shields of Atlantis functioning on the bottom of the ocean for ten millennia. There was another longer pause from Deadfall while this ran through my head. When she answered again it was in a much more focused tone.

"I believe you may have unlocked more memories…" she said, "And as a result I think I can safely say that Shockwave does not have such a power source. However…I do believe he has access to a partial copy of what you call an Ancient Repository, the sum knowledge of your ancestors. Before you ask, no, I do not know how much or what kind of information it contained, but I am certain that he does not possess any ZPMs."

At her words, my panic subsided somewhat. Shockwave with ZPMs was a nightmare beyond description…still it begged the question: If he didn't have any, and couldn't make any, how the hell did he move eight planets, two moons and a star? I shook myself. I'd have to find out later. Right now, the focus was the planet we'd come to see, not the ones that were missing in action.

"Is there any sign of any kind of defenses?" I asked Elizabeth. Her gaze, which had been vacant, suddenly refocused and turned to me.

"I'm not reading any satellites, energy fields or ships." she said confidently.

Suddenly, the ship rumbled.

"No need to panic." Arrorree said from her high seat before I could open my mouth, "We're passing through a small debris field. Our hull will protect us."

Somehow her words failed to inspire confidence in me. We had turned and were skimming the edge of the corona now, with the great storm of plasma positioned under our belly As the fiery landscape of the sun's surface drifted by beneath us, a cloud of little misshapen black dots flew by. I felt bits of whatever the mass was made of bounce off our hull. After a short while, Elizabeth spoke up again.

"Alright, I've got a good outline of the planet's orbit. I can't seem to get a detailed image of the surface though. Give me a second."

The screen shivered and the planet in question, which was already marked on the system-map window in blue, lit up and grew a window of its own, filling the screen until it blocked out the rest of the windows. The planet was tilted a little more than the Earth on its axis, and had two moons, one big and greyish-white, covered in minute craters that made me think of a sieve, the other a dusty brown and far smaller than its neighbor.

"I'm detecting a debris belt around the smaller moon, which is being stretched by the planet's gravity. Also..." Elizabeth said, before trailing off.

"What now?" I asked.

"I'm reading various artificial structures on the planet's surface." she announced.

"Any signs of life?"

"None that I can read from this distance. As far as I know, the Ancients never came here. There's no signs of terraforming, which is logical. This system is too chaotic, too many stellar bodies and moving objects for safe habitation. Most inhabited worlds have only a few neighbor planets, a pseudo-Jupiter to help capture comet-rubble from the Kuiper Belt, and one or two suns. Five is too many, and the orbits of the planets here are totally out of whack."

"So how come that half-frozen ball has life?" I asked, pointing at it, "I can see green on it. That must indicate some sort of plant life."

"I have no idea. Possibly Shockwave put it there. I'm also picking up artificial structures on the moon too. It's possible there may be more somewhere in this system, but if so they're too well-hidden."

"So could they be the alarm system?"

"Possibly…perhaps some kind of observatory?" she postulated, before adding: "Still, I'm not picking up energy fields that might indicate scanners or any other type of monitoring equipment. Unless he's actually using lenses and telescopes, which is ridiculously inefficient compared to most sensors, there's nothing."

I considered my options. No signs of guardians or watchful eyes. It was too good to be true. I decided to find out where the edge of the envelope was.

"Take us out of the solar corona and into the debris field around the smaller moon. It shouldn't be hard to hide there if we need to." I said. I'd done the same thing to elude a Wraith Hive, though unlike Han Solo, my ship had not almost served as a gastronomic delight for some sort of giant space-dwelling rock worm. Elizabeth nodded, and as I looked over my shoulder at Arorree, she gave a similar sign of agreement.

"Let's move slowly," I admonished my pilot, as she began to warm the sub-light engines began to warm up, before adding, to Elizabeth: "and make sure our allies stay with us."

Slowly, the _Ascension_ began to move, rising clear of the storm that was the solar corona. According to the map window on the main screen, the Traveler ships were following at a steady pace, not breaking formation. As we ascended, a feeling of unease settled over me, and the higher we rose, the bigger it grew. Something was not right here. You didn't leave assets undefended. The dark cloud of debris we had passed through attracted my attention again. There was something about the way it was moving…

My thoughts were interrupted by an enormous explosion. I was almost catapulted from my chair by the force of the blast.

"What the hell!?" I shouted, "Damage report!"

"One of the Traveler ships was just hit. It looks like some sort of collision, but there's more damage than-" Thoren began to explain, as a shower of sparks fell from overhead, just before a second rumble and Thoren's eyes widened.

"They've been destroyed." he said in a low tone full of horror.

"What the hell hit them?!" I demanded.

"I don't know! One second there was nothing and suddenly…" Thoren said, waving his hands briefly. My mind raced. No collision with a mere moving object could have destroyed an entire Traveler vessel. We would have seen it coming…unless…

"Ford…is that what I think it is?" Elizabeth asked, her voice trembling. I glanced up. Her hologram was staring at the main screen and pointing at the dark cloud I had been distracted by moments ago. I focused on it, inspecting it with more interest than the previous once-over I had given it when we passed through it. It took me moment to realize that the misshapen objects that it was composed of were breaking apart…and the pieces left behind were suspiciously geometrically-even. I was about to ask for more information from Elizabeth when one of the pieces began to flash red.

My eyes widened, and Elizabeth took a step backwards in fear as that first red light began to multiply, copies of it flicking into existence elsewhere inside the cloud. Twenty seconds later, there were thousands of the small objects now and more appearing every moment. Ten seconds after that, the whole cloud was twinkling a menacing crimson…and it was not alone. As more red lights appeared, I saw, moving in from the blackness of space, that there were other clouds, moving ponderously to join up with first. The realization struck me as the first of the little blinking dots began to hurtle towards us.

"Oh, FUCK." I whispered in horror, my dark suspicions confirmed.

They were mines…

Enormous clusters of self-propelled, spaceborne nuclear mines…

And they were all moving…

STRAIGHT…AT…US...


	14. Chapter 13: Close Shave

Chapter 13: Close Shave

Time slowed. I didn't even realize I had screamed to raise the shields until the first mine detonated in a huge fireball against them. Sparks erupted from a control panel nearby.

Elizabeth shouted something. As she did, the ship rocked again and the boom of the hull drowned out her words.

"Arorree, get us to that moon!" I shouted. The _Ascension_ was already picking up speed, but more dots were emerging from the various clusters I could even now see gathering around us, adding their mass to the original. As each black dot slammed into us, it detonated with a flash that would have been blinding were it not for Elizabeth's control of the cameras, filtering out most of the light.

"Those are twenty-kilotons each!" I finally heard Elizabeth shout, "We can't take much more of this!"

"How the hell did they penetrate our cloak?!" I shouted, and then was slammed back in my chair by a fresh impact.

"Captain, our shields are failing! Another Traveler vessel is gone!" Arorree shouted.

"What are you doing, then!? Don't just sit there, fly, dammit! FLY!" I roared. I didn't care where, just so long as it was away from the oncoming nemeses. Arorree seemed to share my wishes, wasting no time in pumping even more engine power into our flight. She had already been taking us away from the sun, but now we were flying into a firestorm of a different kind, and if we didn't pass through quickly…well, you could only be vaporized so much.

"Elizabeth, keep the Travelers' navigation systems slaved to ours. Help them avoid those mines, and activate the point defense guns! Clear us a path!" I shouted, and then was nearly launched from my seat as the deck heaved under me.

"To where!? Everywhere I look there's more of those damn things coming at us!" she shouted. Three more impacts rumbled through the superstructure of the ship.

"Did you not hear me!?" I nearly screamed at her, "The moon!"

It took a couple milliseconds for the look of understanding to dawn, but when it did, I knew she grasped my strategy. Once we were in amidst the debris rings around the second, smaller moon of the target planet, we'd be safe for a while. The shields could protect better against proximity detonations than they could against direct hits, and with all the moving targets and chaotic motion of an asteroid field to deal with, that's exactly what our pursuers would be unable to score. Unfortunately, not everyone understood the situation as well as Elizabeth.

"We need to jump!" Harrick shouted, and then clung to his console as a new explosion rocked the deck under my feet. I could see panic in his eyes when I glanced over at him.

"No!" Elizabeth blurted out, "No! The hyperdrive was damaged by the first impact, and even if we could jump, we can't do it under fire! We'd be torn apart the second we opened the hyperspace window!"

I looked back at the nightmare unfolding around me. Even as we picked up speed, I saw yet more fresh clouds of mines moving into position, adding to the primary, which was acting like a ship in itself, the majority of its mass hanging back while a few projectiles at a time hurled themselves at us. I could understand their behavior with a horrible clarity, despite the severity and chaos of the situation. Their nuclear yield meant they couldn't simply all rush in at once or they'd waste vast numbers lost due to friendly fire as some detonated before others, engulfing their brethren before they could add their full destructive potential to the onslaught. In this way, it was like a never-ending missile salvo, except the adversary was made of but missiles.

I felt the lightening of my body as the inertial dampeners kicked in, decreasing our mass-silhouette to near zero and enabling us to move far faster than a ship the size of the _Ascension_ should physically be able to. The surviving Travelers were keeping pace, thanks to Elizabeth. With the point-defense guns blazing, we tore into the black cloud, which seemed to part like a living sea, not wanting to waste its resources apparently. As we approached full speed, it began to fall behind, and soon the impacts ceased as the clouds fell behind. I let out a breath I had been unconsciously holding, then turned to Elizabeth.

"Damage report." I commanded.

"Two of the Traveler escorts were destroyed. One has suffered damage to life support and hyperdrive, but the other is still fully functional. Hull integrity is still strong, but shields are down to forty-two percent. We're largely unscathed, considering, but you should know that mines are following us-" she began to say.

"WHAT!?" I screamed. She pulled up a new map window that showed the cloud of flying explosives trailing us at a considerable distance, but while they weren't catching up, they weren't really falling behind either. I stared at the image.

"Well that's just not fair." I finally said.

"They can't outpace us, but with our hyperdrive out, we can't outrun them forever." She remarked glumly. I considered my options, and then made the only decision that seemed worth it.

"Tell the undamaged one to get out of here. They need to tell Larrin what happened and try to organize a rescue. We'll be safe in the moon's rings until they can get back." I told her, trying desperately to convince myself of the truth of the second part. It was insane. The last thing I had expected was a giant, intelligent minefield.

"It's done. They're jumping now. Captain Ricken says he'll try and bring help as soon as possible." Elizabeth said after a moment. With a flash, one of the two Traveler escorts leaped into hyperspace…and not a moment too soon. We were moving so fast I could never have seen it coming, but somehow, I felt I really should have. The mines behind us were so distracting that I didn't see the ones coming from in front. When we plowed through the oncoming cloud the ship shuddered and trembled as if God was playing a drumroll on the hull.

"Shields at forty percent!" Harrick bellowed. I swore, then roared: "I have not come this far to die now!"

And suddenly we were clear, the ship slowing as it entered the swarm of brownish rocks drifting serenely around the smaller moon. A couple mines detonated behind us before the cloud we had just punched through drew back, no doubt to join up with our other pursuers. I breathed out again, but then hesitated, waiting for some new calamity. When nothing came, I got up from my seat.

"The mines are slowing…they've stopped. They're holding position at the…wait… no…they're spreading out." Elizabeth said. The map window grew and showed the full orbit of the moon we now hovered above. The mines were indeed spreading out, forming a torus that enveloped the debris field, ensuring we could hide, but not leave, at least not without them knowing. I heard several muffled curses as my compatriots and I watched the scene unfold.

I, however, refused to let the concept of being trapped phase me. There was always a way out, you just had to find it.

"Ok, we've got breathing space." I said, focusing on the pros of the situation, "Let's make sense of this. First off, how come we didn't see those, and why didn't they blast us apart when we first showed up?" Elizabeth chose to be the explainer of the hour.

"I think they were in sleep mode, essentially." she began, waving a hand at the screens to alter the displays, "They didn't start to wake up until a few collided with our hull. Now they're all waking up, and moving to contain us."

"Exactly how many are we talking about?" I asked. Desperately I hoped for a military solution, though experience had taught me such hopes were often foolish. Said hopes were of course immediately dashed when I saw the map-window change, pulling back to encompass the entire system, like earlier. As it did, I saw that the combined heliospheres of the five stars was saturated with a thin red haze, made not of individual mines, but clusters of them, tightly packed densest around the planet we had come to investigate. It was horrifyingly impressive, and I couldn't help but wonder how Shockwave had managed to implement such an enormous deterrent.

"At least we probably know what happened to the missing planets and lost star now. Shockwave had to get the raw materials from somewhere" Elizabeth said. It took a while for what she was implying to sink into my adrenaline-addled brain, but when it did, the idea was staggering.

"Do you mean to suggest," I began, "that Shockwave ground up those entire planets and turned them all into million-billion-squillion mines!?"

"I can't see how else he would do it, although this many mines must've taken centuries to make, perhaps longer." she responded, "To answer your other questions which I'm sure you're dying to ask, I didn't see them because when they're inactive, they read pretty much like your average space rocks. They're spread thinly in some places, but for the most part, as soon as a ship drops out of hyperspace and collides with them, they wake up. They all seem to be in communication with one another too, which is how they're able to coordinate. This also means that if even one mine gets an alert, the rest get one too, and before anyone knows what's happening, it's over. "

"But the Wraith, they've been all over. If even one of them came here, then didn't report back, wouldn't that raise a red flag?" I asked.

"Either they came here once before this was here and never came back, or they got tired of losing ships. Personally I suspect the former. The Wraith may rule the whole galaxy, but they don't keep tabs on every star, and there are, as we've learned, places they simply can't go. The Grondians survived for centuries inside the Cluster, with the Wraith none the wiser to their existence, even when they stole a Stargate for their own use."

"Can you…I don't know, hack them or something?"

"No. Don't ask why. It gets complicated." she said dismissively.

The firecracker glow of the twinkling mines gave the stars outside a sinister overlay. As I stared out, I heard myself asking more questions.

"Okay then…how do we get away?"

"We can't. The hyperdrive is too badly damaged and we don't have the parts. Furthermore, the Traveler ship is leaking air, and their life support is totally destroyed. We need to bring its crew aboard before they all suffocate."

"What about their hyperdrive? I know it was damaged, but maybe they have enough working parts to fix ours. Then we bring them home with us." I suggested.

"Possibly, but they'll need time. That's something we may not have." I turned to Arorree, who was focused on keeping us from getting obliterated.

"How did they see past our cloak?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"They ran into us. Even if you can't see someone, if they run into you and you have a good idea of how fast they're going and which way, you can figure out where they are. That's why they've enveloped the rings. If we try to leave, we'll run into at least one, and that will tell the rest where to focus their attack." I nodded. It made sense. It was almost like carpet bombing, but in a more resource-conservative way. When you can think as fast as a machine, you can work out trajectories a lot faster than little old humans.

"Alright, we're a lot closer to the planet. Maybe you could take a peek down there?" I asked, at a loss for something else to do.

"I'd love to, but I'm focused on getting those Travelers aboard. It seems their systems were affected by the EMPs from the nukes more than ours were. Since we use mostly Ancient computer systems with crystals, we were largely safe. They still use quite a bit of silicon though, which means that if they don't get off that ship and on ours soon, their navigation systems will burn out and they'll crash." My face paled. I'd already lost two ships today. I couldn't afford a third when I could help. I could only imagine the wrath I'd face upon returning to Larrin and explaining what had happened.

"Contact our friends in the hangars. Tell any of them that can fly that they need to help transport that crew over here. While you're at it, make sure they at least check if their hyperdrive is salvageable." I said. Then I stood and rubbed my face with my hands. I felt exhausted, as anyone might have if they had just escaped death by the skin of their teeth.

"Captain!" Thoren suddenly called out, "I'm receiving a signal from the target planet. It reads as a short-range radio transmission. What should we do?" My mind raced. Who could be calling? If this was Shockwave's home base, could it be him, contacting us just to gloat? Or was there something else going on here? I remembered all too well what had happened on the crashed ship on New Athos. If Shockwave had compromised the _Jhiaxus_ so easily, I doubted even Elizabeth would be much of a match. Still, I had to know…

"Elizabeth, set up a firewall around the communications system. If this turns out to be our one-eyed friend, I don't want to give him the chance to vent us into space." I ordered. Elizabeth nodded.

"Done.", she announced after a moment, then opened up a new display window on the main screen. It displayed a vox-scale, the kind used in measuring sound-waves, though obviously this was for reading the incoming transmission.

"Put it through, Thoren." I commanded. My communications officer nodded and manipulated his controls. Instantly the scream of static washed through the bridge before resolving itself somewhat into something like a voice, obviously synthesized. If it was actually saying something though, I couldn't make it out. It was low and muffled, like a sound heard through a wall.

"This is Captain Aiden Ford of the _Ascension_. Who's this?" I asked. The muttering continued, unabated.

"Deadfall would like you to know that she and her friends are working with the Autobots to transport the crew of the other ship over as fast as possible. I've been in constant contact with their Captain, Mora. She's doing her best to salvage what's left of their hyperdrive, but their air reserves were critically damaged. They can't stay much longer." Elizabeth whispered to me as the indistinct babble continued to fill the bridge.

"How much longer till we have them all aboard?" I asked, continuing to stare at the fluctuating vox-meter, my attention divided between the current predicament of my ship and allies and the new mystery of this unidentified voice.

"Thirty-five minutes, give or take a few more. They've had practice in abandoning ship." Elizabeth responded. I held up my hand.

"What?" she asked. I waved my hand vigorously for silence. Amidst the tumult of muttering I could have sworn I had heard a coherent word, spoken in Ancient. It sounded like 'liberat-ey'…well I knew from Elizabeth that '_liberate_' meant 'save' in Ancient, which was the precursor to Latin. But save who, and from what? Or was it the other way around? I shook my head. This was going nowhere.

"Turn it off." I growled. Thoren manipulated his controls and the whispering ceased. I turned back to Elizabeth.

"Bring Captain Mora to me as soon as she's aboard. I need to apologize for getting us into this mess." I said to Lennann, who nodded and stood from her seat, then made her way to the door. I sighed, staring at the immense deathtrap I had fallen into on the main screen. Today was just not my day…

It didn't take long to evacuate the Traveler vessel. Elizabeth kept it flying as long as she could remotely, but in the end the flight systems were simply too damaged. There was an unpleasant moment of silence on the bridge when it finally gave out and spiraled out of control. It didn't take long for the asteroid field to finish what the mines had started. The shields gave way under the barrage of impacts and soon, all that was left of my last support was a metal hulk, slowly drifting amidst the debris.

I met Captain Mora in the mess-hall, which was filled with disheveled and very unhappy-looking Travelers. I mustered up the best apology I could, and while this seemed to pass muster, it was clear I had made no friends with my actions today. Afterwards I retreated to my quarters for a while. I got an hour of unintentional sleep, before waking in darkness and staring up at the ceiling.

The decision to come here had always been a calculated risk, I knew, but I had never, ever expected it to turn out this badly. I cursed myself for daring to stray into the domain of optimism. A good soldier knows to expect the unexpected. Of course, given the totally alien nature of my opponent, there was no conceivable way I could have known that he was capable of constructing such an enormous defensive measure as what now encircled the ring system that hid us. Disconsolately, I wondered if somehow this was the universe reinforcing Elizabeth's claims of my having a death-wish.

As if she had heard my thoughts, Elizabeth materialized at my side as I reclined in the comfy arm-chair I had been snoring in shortly prior. It was a gift from Lennann's Thoren's people, made of leather to my specifications, though the upholstery definitely not the kind that came from cows. I had never bothered to ask which animal the skin had come from, but it was remarkably soft all the same.

"Deadfall wants to talk with you. She says more of her memory is returning and she has something she needs to tell you." I groaned and rose from the chair.

"I hope you realize that no one's blaming you, Aiden. You took a risk, yes, but this wasn't like what you did on New Athos. You prepared yourself, took every measure you could think of. There's no way you could have known…hell, your plan was pretty good, and you took your injury into account." Elizabeth said, trying to be consoling. She was good at it, but my guilt was still there. Two ships full of Larrin's people were gone, after having entrusted me with their safety. Somehow, I knew I'd have to answer for that, if not to Larrin, then to myself.

I followed Elizabeth down through the _Ascension_ to Bay 8 in silence, where Deadfall was waiting. The _Ascension_ had fourteen hangar bays, mostly small and only big enough for a couple Jumpers. Deadfall was in her vehicle mode, probably to conserve space and because I had no doubt she'd bang her head if she tried to stand up. As I approached the silver, angled craft, the ex-Decepticon's voice emerged from the cockpit.

"I am sorry for this situation Captain, but I have no memory of this field ever being here. I know now that I have been to this system several times, but I never suspected-", she began to explain. I held up my hand. It had never occurred to me to blame Deadfall for our predicament. I sincerely doubted she would lead us into a trap like this willingly. Suicide didn't strike me as her style, and her words from the engine core, spoken to Elita One, still resonated within me; '_We're not all like my brother, Admiral. Some of us want hope, not power._', she had declared, standing there, offering to carry me into the fire so I could save us, even though it meant she might not come back either.

"It's okay." I said, "I'm not here to assign blame. If anyone should feel guilty, it's me. What we need to focus on is getting out of here in once piece. You said you had remembered more information."

"Yes, though it may or may not pertain to our current needs. Still, I felt you should be told." she replied. Two rays of bluish light suddenly sprang from emitters on either side of the cockpit. I took a step back, though not out of nervous reaction. If she wanted to hurt me, I'd know very quickly. The rays came together to form a holographic image of the Pegasus Galaxy.

"I have managed to recall the beginnings of the events that led me to be on the _Jhiaxus_ when the Autobots found me." she explained. Quickly the galactic light-show flickered and became a planet, a dark world, blotchy and brown, almost like the moon we were orbiting.

"This is where it began. After parting ways with Starscream in the wake of the schism I have already told you about, we…that is to say, Shockwave and his followers, whom I was among at the time, journeyed across the galaxies, straying far from the course the rest of the Decepticons were following in search of the Allspark. We eventually landed on this world, which we named Vector Sigma, and established a colony, a place where we could seek answers to our problems, chiefly the sterility issue that Shockwave had uncovered and which sparked the schism in the first place." she explained. The image changed, becoming a blurry projection of what eventually resolved into an alien laboratory, clearly of Cybertronian make. It reminded me a great deal of the interior of the _Jhiaxus_, the ship that had crashed on New Athos. Wires and curved metal were much in evidence, as well as pistons and complex metal things whose functions I couldn't hope to guess.

"We worked constantly, seeking a solution. Over time we tried numerous solutions, but…" Deadfall continued, before tapering off. Unable to stifle my curiosity, I decided to ask a question part of me was extremely embarrassed about asking, but which I felt needed to be posed all the same.

"How exactly do you reproduce?" I inquired. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Elizabeth's hologram, which was still standing next to me, blush bright red. I rolled my eyes.

"It is hard to simplify, but the technical truth is that we have genders but not 'sexes', at least, not in the manner you understand it. We all have the same hardware, but two alternate sets of software, which could be equated to your species' male-female duality. 'Mechs' are our counterpart to your males and 'femmes' are our females. I'm a femme. In order for a new Spark to be formed, one member of each gender must interface with a member of the other. There have been cases of same-gender conception, but those that achieve success are far fewer than those that occur between a mech and a femme. We can switch genders through reformatting, though that doesn't happen all that often these days. During interface, our counterpart to your sexual intercourse, the two participants essentially share their souls, and from their own essences they weave a new Spark. How the Allspark played into this, we were never able to discern, though Shockwave thought it might have some stabilizing influence his instruments couldn't detect."

"So what were you trying, artificial insemination?" I asked, feeling myself turning as red as Elizabeth at the words. Say what you like about humans from Earth, we've got a sexual repression complex the size of the old British Empire…

Exactly the size of the old British Empire…

It also wasn't helping that she'd essentially just admitted her entire species treated the whole concept of gender as something far more fluid than I felt comfortable with. It wasn't that I had an issue with transgender people; it was just off-putting to be told that this race of giant robots could switch from 'male' to 'female' at a whim.

"Not precisely. When a Spark is completed, it is sheltered inside the chassis of one of its parents until it can be properly housed in a protoform, which is created by the parents from raw cyber-matter and even small parts of their own bodies if they can spare them. We attempted to enkindle Sparks without parents, to create wholly artificial beings. The closest we'd ever come to something even remotely like that was making drones for the war on Cybertron, which were essentially little more than clones."

"I take it things didn't pan out?"

"No. Every attempt ended in failure. Admittedly, we got further than most. All other voluntary attempts by two partners to enkindle a new Spark didn't even achieve conception. Still, our results were only marginally better. Most Sparks we created barely got past their first few seconds of life without fizzling out. Those that survived needed surrogate parents to house them until protoforms could be created. Quite a few lives were lost that way, often due to compatibility issues. Those that made it to the protoform stage rejected their new bodies nine times out of ten. And those that did not…" she recounted sadly, trailing off.

"What?" I pushed. For all the embarrassment this conversation was presenting, it was actually quite interesting. The hologram changed again, showing Deadfall in her humanoid mode examining a small silvery creature in a thick-walled transparent container. The little thing danced about, savagely attacking the sides of the box, its eyes glowing red with a sort of rabid anger as it desperately tried to break out. As I watched, the image changed to another iteration of the same scene, except there was a new creature, which sat motionless in the heart of the box, its eyes a chilling blue, the light in them speaking not of the noble aspirations of an Autobot, but the cold mind of a ruthless killer. Suddenly it lunged at the transparent wall of the box, which cracked. Seconds later, it leapt backwards, its chest opened and a blinding explosion filled the container. When it faded, the box was riddled with cracks, only being held together by a transparent force-field. At the center was a scorch mark and the twisted, melted remains of what might've been a modern art sculpture.

"They were dysfunctional…stunted somehow. Some became violent or even feral. A few turned sociopathic. Eventually, all became self-destructive, terminating themselves. It was awful to watch. They were supposed to be our future…and our future kept killing itself…" she sighed. There was a long silence. I tried to imagine what that was like, to see your hopes snuff themselves out no matter what you tried…

"But then Shockwave found something. I still can't remember what it was, but it increased our initial success rate dramatically. Almost every Spark began to survive to the protoform stage. At the same time, the demands for Energon decreased exponentially." She must've seen my confusion, because she hurriedly began to explain.

"When a new Spark is enkindled, it requires large amounts of Energon from the parents. Conception places great strain on both participants. As a result, they need more to replenish their internal stores afterwards. Our method required similar amounts, but Shockwave's discovery streamlined the process somehow, meaning we got better results with less Energon. Even so, the end products were still flawed, and all self-terminated after an average of three of your weeks.

"I was among those working on the issue. Scientifically, we couldn't explain it, and not just because we didn't understand our connection to the Allspark. There was no reason for what was happening, no explanation as to why all our would-be children were constantly killing themselves. Some of the more impressionable among us thought it was the Primes or the Cube itself punishing us for our folly, for the war and all the crimes that went with it."

"So how does all of this tie back to Shockwave?" I asked. I was admittedly very interested in what she was saying, but the present situation was pressing hard on my mind. Deadfall altered the holographic image to show a new tableau, this one of a new laboratory, clearly different from the others, containing huge tubes and vats that held parts that were clearly of Cybertronian design, ranging from limbs to whole carcasses, one of which was the size of a container ship.

"I do not know the details, but somewhere along the line, Skyfire, one of the visionaries that helped Shockwave plan the schism, found out that our leader had betrayed us." Deadfall explained. The hologram changed again to display a towering purple behemoth with a singular red eye, striding to and fro across the lab. I had to force myself to remain calm, especially since the traumatizing memories of the _Jhiaxus_' control room kept bubbling to the surface like methane in a swamp.

"Skyfire raised a force of loyal followers, myself among them, hoping to force Shockwave to surrender leadership. He managed to steal something, a vital component of Shockwave's power base..."

"But it didn't stop him, did it?" I interjected, "Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"No, it didn't. Whatever he stole, it crippled Shockwave, but it didn't stop him. Skyfire escaped, but the rest of us were trapped by Shockwave's forces. He used the same…thing that he used to improve our experiments' success rates to subdue us. Those he deemed useful, he enslaved, while the rest…" Deadfall continued. She paused, changing the image again to show the large moon, the companion of the one we were now orbiting. Now the words began to spill out of her, more disjointed than her previous eloquent explanations.

"We were placed in a cryogenic suspension. If we are subjected to low enough temperatures, our bodies can be forced into a sleep mode, in order to conserve power. We were brought here, to this moon, held in a facility buried deep below the surface, trapped in a frozen nightmare. The _Jhiaxus_ was more than a mere prison ship; it was a mobile laboratory, and we were the test subjects. We were used, over and over, for experiments whose purpose I cannot begin to fathom, and when we were no longer needed, we were stored here, in this system, until our master saw fit to unfreeze us for further use." Her words grew ever harsher, more laced with venom and acid tones. It was clear that the experience of being used in such a fashion still filled her with anger.

"So you're saying there's a prison full of frozen allies of yours, out there, under that moon?" I asked. Deadfall's holographic projectors flickered off, the image they had been displaying disintegrating into nothingness.

"Yes." she answered, "And what's more, there may be a way out of this situation we find ourselves in."

"How so?" I asked. I was willing to believe anything, try anything, if only it got me out of this pit I had fallen into.

"There is some glimmer of hope in this situation. Longshot, one of my team, is an expert on faster-than-light travel in many forms. Given the right tools, I believe he could fashion whatever parts necessary for you to repair your hyperdrive." I wanted to laugh at the irony of the ex-Decepticon's name, but I didn't dare. I took a quick look at Elizabeth.

"Didn't we get what we needed from the Travelers' ship?" I asked, hopefully. She shook her head sadly.

"I was…putting off telling you, but they weren't able to salvage what we needed from their craft before they all had to bail out." she said, "By now the parts will be virtually beyond retrieval."

I turned back to Deadfall.

"Couldn't you escape on your own? Don't you have faster-than-light drives?" I asked, grasping at straws.

"If you are thinking we might ferry you out of here, I'm sorry to say we can't. Our personal travel systems only work at five to ten light-years per jump…and I believe our methods would be inimical to organic matter. It could kill you."

I wanted to scream in frustration. Everything was fucked, nothing was going right. Three of my escorts were space junk, and while one of them had got away, I doubted I'd be receiving support before things got worse, and I had no doubt they would. On one side, I had a planet with mysterious structures; on another, a moon with an equally mysterious prison. My hyperdrive was screwed, my allies of little help and my only option led to taking an even bigger risk than the one I had taken coming here.

"If it helps, I do not believe that the mines would go anywhere near the prison itself. It is likely, though, that the prison has its own defenses…" Deadfall suggested. I took a deep breath to keep my head from exploding.

"I'm going to admit something to you, right here and now, something that I don't think I could say to my crew…" I said, letting my thoughts settle with my breath. It was a technique I had been taught by the Hidden to help overcome my addiction to the Wraith Feeding Enzyme. It didn't always work, but right here and now it helped me look past my despair and anger, which was just what I needed.

"You see, I've been fighting the Wraith for so long that my friends have practically mythologized me, though they don't show it in front of me." I explained, speaking slowly and calmly, keeping a lid on the boiling mass of dark feelings, "But right now…I have no idea what to do. I thought I could handle this. I was wrong…and right now…you are the only person who might have an answer. So I'm asking you…what do you think I should do?"

There was a long pause, in which I stared into the blackness of Deadfall's cockpit, unable to read what was going on in her mind. It was baffling, mind-bending, that I would put so much trust in her when everything I knew about her said she came from a culture that prided itself on deception. For a moment I questioned the sanity of my actions…

"There are many unknown variables…but I believe that there may be a way out of here. It is risky, and very likely that we may not survive…but it is all I can think of."

I took a step towards the ex-Decepticon.

"Tell me." I demanded, "Tell me what I need to do."

"The _Jhiaxus_, whenever it returned, it never landed on the moon." Deadfall explained, "The moon itself is equipped with impenetrable defenses, designed to prevent both escape and intrusion. The only way in is through the transmission system."

"That explains the extra structures on the planet." Elizabeth cut in, "But how do we access it?"

"The facility containing the transmitter is heavily fortified and operated by some sort of artificial intelligence. If you were to attempt an aerial insertion, you would be destroyed in short order. The only option would be to land and attempt to fight your way in on the surface, which means that it is fortunate we have so many ground-bound Autobots."

"We don't have the kind of firepower to storm a heavily fortified installation." I replied.

"No, but a well-armed team of Autobots could probably slip in…if they have someone with experience in being subtle to lead them."

"Someone like you?" I suggested, semi-sarcastically.

"I served with many of the best infiltrators while working for Soundwave, the head of Decepticon Intelligence." she retorted, "I know my way around espionage."

"We would need to deploy a considerable distance from the fortress, and even getting down to the planet will be difficult. We will need to fly in a scattered formation-" she continued.

"I'm going with you." I said firmly.

"Ford!" exclaimed Elizabeth, her tone one of shock and anger.

"I do not think that would be wise-", Deadfall began to say.

"I can help fly interference. I may not be able to fly the Jumper myself, but I can serve as a co-pilot for Harrick. It's not like he's doing much right now anyway. We can't shoot our way out of this." I declared. Before Elizabeth could say anything else, I gave her a look into which I poured the message that I was not going to stand by while other people cleaned up my mess. She must've gotten it, because she said nothing in response, her hologram assuming a cool, calm and very disappointed demeanor. The 'disappointed' part irked me, given she knew how I felt about unfinished business. I had sworn to stop behaving like a man with a death wish, but I could not, WOULD not tolerate standing idly by why other people tried to dig me out of a hole I had dug myself into.

"If you insist…" Deadfall replied hesitantly.

"I do." I confirmed, "Just tell me when you're ready. I'll be there."


	15. Chapter 14: The Plunge

Chapter 14: The Plunge

The preparations for our descent to the planet were minor at best. Harrick was not a man to sit around while death crept ever closer, not when he could help avert it, so it didn't take much to talk him into flying the Jumper. He had flown the little Ancient craft almost as often as I had, which meant he was a far better choice than Thoren, who had never been more than a co-pilot. I don't know how Deadfall convinced the Autobots to follow her lead, but she did, and told me so long before I finished preparing myself. I met Harrick in Bay 8, next to Deadfall, where the Jumper sat, looking virtually brand new. I reminded myself to thank Jeremiah for his fine work, before climbing aboard, putting on my earpiece-radio, which Elizabeth had modified earlier with the help of the Autobot named Xilimyth so it could pick up Cybertronian radio signals. I half expected someone to appear and try and restrain me or talk me out of this, but no one did.

My inner voices were telling me this was an incredibly stupid idea, but I squelched them. This was a matter of personal pride, and not the kind that Elizabeth had accused me of suffering from. If my grandparents had taught me anything, it was self-reliance and responsibility. Sure, I wanted to prove to my friends that I wasn't some stupid rookie who should've stayed home instead of tagging along and getting in the way, but there was also the fact that I had a hand in creating the mess the Pegasus Galaxy found itself in. You could slice it any way you liked, but the fact was that I had been part of the team that woke the Wraith early, and now, years later, whole planets had been laid to waste as a result. I had to clean up my mess, take responsibility and finish what I started. It was as simple as that.

I activated my ear-radio and tuned it to Deadfall's frequency, as Elizabeth had demonstrated earlier, while Harrick, outfitted in his own Traveler combat gear, took a seat next to me.

"Who's going to be coming?" I asked. Deadfall hadn't told me which of the Autobots or her own team were going to be joining the effort to rescue those incarcerated on the moon.

"Xilimyth, Cobalt, Prism, Divisor, Gladiator, Sunbeam and Trackmaster will be representing the Autobots. Longshot and Breakdown will be accompanying me as well."

"I want to know the game-plan so I know how to deal with any trouble we might find up until we hit the atmosphere…assuming we make it that far." I said as calmly as I could. Neither Harrick, nor I had ever dealt with this kind of operation, meaning I was still quite nervous under my veneer of calm collectedness. Deadfall's voice emerged smoothly and coolly from the little black bud in my ear.

"I have spoken to Xilimyth. Elita assigned her command of both the Autobots and my companions. She has suggested that Sunbeam and Prism fly with you, if you intend to fly interference as you suggested. Your friend should do his best to remain in formation with them for as long as possible. You will be following us into the atmosphere, but only should only remain there for a short time to throw off the mines targeting. Once you are free, the two Autobots should be able to safely escort you make it back to your ship. This is not negotiable." She said the last words in a flat, hard tone. I didn't protest. Deadfall was the only one who knew what needed to be done, and frankly, I didn't intend to put myself at further risk than necessary. I might intend to take part in cleaning up my own mess, but I did not plan on going out in a blaze of glory like Elizabeth implied while I was doing it. I only had one arm, and there was no way in hell I could storm a giant alien fortress without all my limbs, which was why I was leaving that part of the operation to the experts.

"Alright, Harrick will take-"I started to say.

"Prism will lead your flight formation. This is also not negotiable." Deadfall said. Again, I did not protest. I simply relayed the plan to Harrick, who nodded in understanding. Satisfied that he knew what to do, I clicked the channel open one more time.

"If there's nothing else, let's get moving." I said to my silver guide.

"As soon as I give the word, follow me out." she ordered. I squirmed in my seat. It had been a while since I had taken orders rather than issuing them. The feeling was strange, especially since the orders were coming from a giant alien robot. As I activated the co-pilot's console in front of me, Elizabeth's voice came through the ear bud.

"You do seem to have a terrible memory." she said calmly. There was no coldness in her voice, just disappointment and a hint of understanding. I glared out the front window of the Jumper, for lack of anything to glare at.

"This is my mess Elizabeth, and they need me." I said simply. To my surprise she did not fly into a rage. Instead her words were softly spoken, almost comforting, a friend advising a friend.

"I know a thing or two about cleaning up your own mess, Aiden. It's never as simple as it looks."

"I never thought it would be simple." I retorted. For a while she said nothing while Harrick and I continued our preflight checks.

"It's strange, isn't it, how history repeats itself, isn't it?" she suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.

"It's just…we woke the Wraith trying to help other people…now we've awakened something worse trying to do the same thing." I said nothing in response. The horrible notion had occurred to me too while I had laid awake, staring at the ceiling of my quarters earlier.

"I won't burden you with more psychoanalysis or second-guessing." she said finally. It sounded like there was something else she wanted to say, but she couldn't put it into words. I said nothing in response, yet I considered our shared history briefly as I finished my pre-flight check.

We had both been caught up by fate, swept away from the people we had called friends and family by events beyond our control. We had both been left behind by Atlantis, had lived strangers in a strange land. I wasn't going to say I loved her (it would never work out), but Elizabeth was my rock in a sea of troubles, the only person I could relate to amidst the chaos that was my quest (if you could even call it that). Her fear for me stemmed from the fear of being alone in this galaxy ruled by monsters, and I couldn't blame her for having it. I'd felt the same way a couple hundred times, but I was a warrior. Elizabeth was a diplomat, no matter how well she hid it. She believed every life was precious. I was trained to believe my life was expendable for the greater good of others. Still, I wanted to reassure her that I wasn't going to throw away my life so cavalierly. She beat me to it, her voice coming over the earpiece with a tone hopeful for reassurance.

"Just one thing while you're down there…" she asked as I nodded to Harrick, who had just completed his own pre-flight check.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Stay safe." she commanded. I smiled.

"Yes ma'am." I replied. For a moment, I was back in Atlantis, and Elizabeth was my superior, sending me out on a mission whose outcome would decide the fate of the galaxy…and then I was back, hoping to high heaven that my luck would see me through this. I turned back to face the front window and placed my one working hand on the controls, causing the Jumper's rear hatch raise its ramp and the doors to the cockpit to seal. I sat there pensively after they closed for a few seconds, Harrick's eyes on me, waiting for a signal. This was probably one of the less bright decisions I had made in my career as an adventurer…but I couldn't see another way out. And I swore to myself, for the sake of Elizabeth and everyone I had left to care about that I would be back, come hell or high water.

Suddenly the bay doors opened, splitting into four sections to reveal a vision of spinning, dancing space rocks. Without further ado, Deadfall rose from her spot, rotated smoothly in midair, and then fired her engines, propelling herself out into the chaos.

"Take us out." I admonished Harrick, who nodded and powered up the Jumper's own engines, extending the rhomboid drive pods from the craft's sides as we rose off the deck.

"I would like to say for the record, Captain, that this is a very, very bad idea." Harrick said, adding a little cloud to my sunshiny moment of hope. My smile became a grimace.

"Don't I know it." I muttered. Then, like lightning, we roared into the flying rubble beyond. I tapped my earpiece, tuning in to the Cybertronian wavelengths as the Jumper's heads-up display came online. The holographic overlay quickly helped distinguish our Cybertronian escorts from the rest of the whirling stones outside. With no more than a thought, Harrick turned us to join up with Sunbeam and Prism, who had exited Bay 3 behind us. Suddenly an idea struck me.

"Harrick, this is just a suggestion, but I want you to try using the cloak intermittently to confuse the mines when we get close enough." I said. When he gave me a confused look, I quickly explained.

"If what I've been told is right, the only reason they found us the first time was because we actually ran into them. That's why they've surrounded us, so that if we try to cloak again and run elsewhere, they'll know."

"And because we're smaller, we'll be able to slip between them?" he asked, still somewhat confused.

"Not quite." I replied. Sunbeam and Prism were easy to spot in the void of space. The first was a bright golden yellow, while the other was a sort of mix of yellow and acid-green stripes, not a pretty pattern truth be told. Harrick followed my instructions to the letter, as I relayed them from the voices in my earpiece, falling in behind Prism as Sunbeam took up station on her rear right, resulting in the Jumper being the third piece in a flying wedge.

"Stay close and only break formation if you need to. When we reach the atmosphere, the mines will likely break off pursuit to avoid wasting materials. Don't let that fool you though, because if they have any shred of sense, their next move will be to call in reinforcements and try to surround the planet in the same way they did the rings." Deadfall declared over the shared network.

"You'd think they wouldn't consider us a threat if they're that smart. They know we don't have hyperdrive." I pointed out. If the others in the strike force had heard me, only Deadfall showed it.

"You may not, but I am assuming these mines were programmed to deal with more than just the Wraith."

"Explain?" I requested, now confused…at least, more confused than I had been.

"Logically, a minefield like this would be programmed to ignore anything beneath a certain size limit, to conserve its mass. However, I do not think that such a presumption is a safe bet. Call it a hunch, but Shockwave isn't one to leave anything to chance." I considered her words, then nodded in approval.

"Alright, lead the way." I responded. Then I leaned over to Harrick.

"Just so you know, there's no way we can survive even one direct hit…" I warned him. He needed to understand just what was being expected of him. By the look that came over his face, I could tell he did.

"On my mark…" our guide pronounced, "Three…two…one…go!"

The flight that followed was both the most exhilarating and terrifying I had ever endured. We plunged through the ring system at a speed that would have caused even the most hardened pilot to black out as the blood was shoved to the back of their skull by g-forces. Harrick flew as best he could, but if there was one thing both he and I quickly realized, it was that while the Cybertronians might not be as fast as the Jumper, they were far, far more maneuverable. They dodged past the asteroids and chunks of spaceborne flotsam like they were standing still while I struggled to help my pilot keep up. Thankfully, it didn't take long to reach the edge of the field, and when we did, I saw the terrible twinkling red eyes of my enemy. Immediately, I triggered the weapon systems, causing the Jumper's drone-launchers to slide out from its sides. With only one hand to work the interface, it was tricky to lock onto the targets I intended, but some assisting fire from Prism and Sunbeam saw to it I didn't have to try very hard.

The mass of mines reacted as we approached by hurling bits of its body at us. My Cybertronian wingmen kept most of them from getting too close with rapid-fire heavy-caliber weapons, while I cleaned up any that they couldn't hit. 'Too close' in this case had to be defined as five kilometers, given that every projectile headed towards us could deliver a twenty-kiloton yield. We raced at bone-liquefying speeds through the blockade, which immediately began to disassemble in our immediate vicinity, bits and pieces breaking away to give chase.

"Keep going!" Deadfall shouted over the comms, "Whatever you do, don't stop!" I checked the sensors. Now that we were out of the asteroid belt, the superior maneuverability of the Cybertronians wasn't doing squat. The mines were faster and quickly overtaking them in the open space between the planet and its moon. A blinding flash at the edge of the Jumper's front window told me that one of the free-floating, self-propelled bombs had scored a hit and instantly, three of the blue dots that marked my allies on the sensors winked out. The remaining ones spread out further, hoping to avoid any further cases of multiple casualties.

I ground my teeth in anger. Three of us were already down and we were barely a third of the way to the planet's atmosphere. If things kept up at this rate, none of us would make it back to the ship. I tried to focus on my destination. The white-dominated globe in the Jumper's front window danced around as we jinked and dodged the hail of intelligent munitions pursuing us, yet continued to grow at a steady rate. The sensor display, a small window on my side of the cockpit, showed the whirling formations of mines rearranging themselves midflight as they chased after us like a blizzard of crimson dots, rippling and churning like snow on the wind. With every second that passed, the edge of that red tide got closer to us.

I prayed. To who, I didn't know, but I prayed all the same. I prayed I would live through this. I prayed I would achieve my goals. Mostly though, I prayed I wouldn't lose control of my bladder. The surface of the planet filled the entire front window now.

"Must go faster…" I heard myself chanting under my breath. My eyes flicked over to the sensor display again. Two thirds of the way there and no casualties…but the storm was closer than ever. In twenty seconds…make that fifteen, it would be all over us, and no amount of firepower would be able to clear them out before they turned us into a rapidly expanding cloud of greasy particles.

"Faster!" I heard myself shout.

"If we go any faster, we'll leave them behind!" Harrick protested. I glanced at the sensors again. Almost there, just a few hundred kilometers…

Another flash from behind signaled the disappearance of two more dots from my screen. I cursed and slammed my good fist on the controls. The Jumper was out of drones. I had used them all up in the initial bid to break the blockade. I closed my eyes and waited for incineration…

And suddenly Harrick let out a whoop of joy. I opened my eyes and saw the clouds part in fire as we punched through the atmosphere. On the sensor display, the tide of red suddenly halted as if someone had flicked a switch, freezing in place. In my mind, which was now clouded with adrenaline, I had the hilarious image of the mines behind the ones at the front crashing into their vanguard as they screeched to a stop, and I found myself laughing, filled with euphoria at having once again cheated death.

"We're through!" I shouted over the comms, "We're safe!" Beneath me, the snowy white of a frozen landscape became apparent as Harrick leveled us out, while the shields recharged from bearing the heat of reentry.

"Stick to the plan, Captain." Deadfall chided, "We are indeed through, but the fight is far from over. The transport system linking the planet to the prison moon should be a mere few dozen kilometers to the north. Expect heavy-"

I didn't hear her finish her sentence. One minute we were flying in formation with our Cybertronian allies. The next, there was fire, sound, the pain of shards of something sharp all across my front, then a feeling of speed, followed by weightlessness.

The last thing I thought before darkness swallowed me was: "So close…"

Then my back broke and I knew no more.


	16. Chapter 15: Reveille

Chapter 15: Reveille

Everyone says that when you're dying, your life flashes before your eyes.

It doesn't.

I don't know how long I lay in the wreck of the Jumper, drifting in an out of consciousness, swinging from earth-shattering pain to blissful nothingness. It took me a while to piece together what was happening to me, though again, I had no idea of the passage of time. It could have been minutes, or it could have been decades. Every time I woke, the agony of my broken flesh grew a little more bearable, though never enough to stop me from slipping back into the dark. It must've been during the eighth such interval which I achieved the measure of higher thought required to understand what was going on, and what had happened.

The Jumper had crashed. That much was obvious. I was lying on the floor of the rear compartment, blood all over me and on the right edge of the doorframe that separated the front from the back. The sight, coupled with the terrifying numbness in my lower body, was enough to make me panic. I tried to move, and that brought fresh doses of pain all over. Blackness ate my mind once more.

I heard a voice, synthesized and female, and cracked open an eye to try and see the source. Lights flickered overhead in vision that was little better than that achieved when staring through the bottom of a beer bottle.

"It's definitely human. What would a human be doing riding with Deadfall?"

"If he's here, he must've helped her." said a second female voice. Blue lights gleamed in the mess of colored smears that my vision had become. Clanking and hissing filled my ears, the bending of metal.

"The other's definitely dead. Do we put this one out of his misery?" asked a third voice, also feminine, with the same mechanical undertones as its companions.

"No." said the first voice, "Orders, remember? If there were any survivors, we were to bring them back alive." I wanted to speak, but I was too tired. Who were these people? Where had I landed? What had become of my allies? Amidst this was the horrible sinking feeling that the 'other one' the third voice had mentioned was my pilot…and if that was so, his blood was on my hands. The guilt weighed me down, dragging me back into the abyss of sleep.

Suddenly there was light, vicious white lances of it, and the sensation of cold metal beneath me. I was moving, but where I couldn't tell.

"He'll never make it." said the second voice from my earlier hallucination…or had it been real? I couldn't tell. It was all a blur.

"Have a little faith, why don't you." snapped the first voice.

"Skyfire taught us to be pragmatic, sis. Since when have humans ever been something we pin our hopes on?"

"We've never met space-faring humans, and if he came down here with Deadfall, that means he has her trust."

"You haven't spoken with Deadfall since before the revolution. And we don't know if that ship we saw in orbit is his. He could just be along for the ride. It was a mistake to try and contact them at all!"

A fuzzy memory of a voice leaked into my head, coupled with a word: '_liberate_'. I tried to cling to it, but it slipped away, and my consciousness with it.

I woke again, surprised at how easily I had fallen back to sleep earlier. The light was an indirect and cool shade of blue now. The three voices from earlier were talking amongst themselves from somewhere to my right, but I couldn't make out the words. Then from right next to my ear came a fresh voice, far more mechanical than those I had previously heard.

"Sleep, now." it commanded.

I wasn't sure if I was awake or dreaming. I could hear Sheppard's voice. Had I been rescued? Where was I? Who was I?

"Oh, well then, it's official: you don't get to name anything." he said snidely, "Ever." I tried to protest, but then I heard Rodney, his voice choked with panic.

"I knew it wasn't going to hurt you!" he pleaded, "You're…you're Super-Ford!" I felt irritation. I wasn't invincible, nor was I infallible. Why was he saying that? Then another voice, the tired voice of the Abbott who had taken me in on Xaer, and brought me to the mountain monastery of the Hidden, rang in my head.

"Every lesson must be reinforced. Pain is a powerful motivator, but so too is guilt." he explained. I didn't understand. I could hear him, but I couldn't see him.

I couldn't see anything.

Where were my eyes?

"-he shall have tactics and strategies so that no foe can best him."

"I don't know. That fuzz-brained rescue didn't leave a good first impression."

"Shut it, Crash."

"You would place your trust in him?"

"He is what I am fighting for. His people are my maker's children."

"That doesn't make him qualified to save us all."

"This is his fight, whether he likes it or not."

"If you're thinking he'll thank you, you're wrong."

"Salvation always comes with a price. It is only a mercy that this price is for his benefit. He will come to realize it."

Scalpels. Needles. Machines all around me. Dark metal fused to flesh. Liquid silver running through me…and then new images, ones that made no sense: a giant in a forest of concrete and glass, a million Hive Ships swallowed by a red vortex, the stars of the Pegasus going dark one by one, a Stargate wreathed in fire.

Then I saw him: a purple-armored colossus, with one arm dominated by a spike, no…a cannon, a gun with a barrel the length of a bus. He sat atop a throne of wires and parts that looked like limbs torn from huge bodies, and beneath it…a foundation of skulls, stretching to the horizon.

"**You aRe alllllL uNwOrtHy.**"

"Commencing modifications."

"What exactly are you making him into?"

"An instrument of vengeance."

Images, noise, lights, sound, filling my head till I felt it would explode. Then came the agony in my spine. My muscles blazed, my bones aching in time with the pulse of my heart.

"Ascension is escape. You will not escape. You…you will win."

A red glow, brighter than the sun, clashing with a golden light that seemed strangely familiar…

"**THiS iS mY GaLAxY!**"

"Then come and take it!"

The dream was different this time, twisted somehow by recent events and forces I could not see. The passage of time slows to a crawl, and then stops as whispers swirl around me in the void. There is only the nothingness of shapeless memory now. 'Is this what death is like?' I wonder to myself.

Suddenly, I am running through a forest. Darts are screaming overhead. The night air is cold, like knives in my lungs. But I keep running, afraid to stop and determined not to look back.

"FORD!" a familiar voice shouts. Startled, I turn, expecting to see my old commanding officer, his P-90 aimed at my chest.

There is no one there.

I turn around, coming face to face with a Wraith soldier. As his hand slams into my chest, my knife is already in my hand. Then the scenery changes again and I find myself in the corridors of a Hive Ship. I plunge my knife into the Wraith's face, burying it up to the hilt, before giving it a good twist to be sure. A P-90 rests in my other hand. I take aim as the thick fog of the Hive Ship's atmosphere swirls around my feet.

Then in the dim light a shadow appears on the far wall, a looming monstrosity like some demon born from the blackest pit of the human imagination. In the middle of the shadow's forehead is a red eye.

I scream and pull the trigger. The walls shatter and the ocean comes flooding in. I try to swim, but there is nowhere to go. The world becomes a chaotic jumble of debris and dark water. Then I pass out.

I lay in the dark, the feeling of cool metal pressing against my back. In the distance, as if echoing towards me down a long tunnel, I heard a voice, inhumanly calm, speaking in a calm, patient fashion.

"Get up, human." it demanded. I knitted by brows in frustration. I was so tired. I didn't want to get up. My entire body ached as if it had been smacked by a falling piano.

"Get up." the voice repeated. Then quite suddenly, my body felt like someone had stuck my finger in a spark-plug. My eyes snapped open and I jerked sideways, flopping off the metal surface I had been lying on like a fish. I landed on another metal surface and banged my head. My skull ringing, I looked around rapidly for the source of the attack. However, my vision was still blurry and it was hard to distinguish anything beyond light and shadow. General shapes took a few seconds to emerge from the soup of dark and bright surfaces. When they did, I scrambled and stumbled to my feet, ignoring the full-body sensation of soreness, and settled into a defensive fighting stance.

"Good." said the voice, and to my chagrin I noted a hint of amusement in it this time. I turned in a brief circle, trying to distinguish its source.

"Remain calm. Your body is going through the final phase of revival. Please remain still until your vision is clear." my anonymous antagonist stated. I shook my head, feeling the ringing sensation decreasing with each passing second, then took a deep breath. Strangely, as the air invaded my lungs, I felt myself become even more alert, my eyes clearing faster.

"Who are you?" I asked the empty air. My throat felt scratchy, as if it had been dry for some time. My vision had almost totally cleared by now and I could see now that I was standing in a room about the size of my old quarters on Atlantis. There was a metal table in the center of the room, which I had presumably been lying on before being electrocuted into awareness.

"My designation is unimportant at this time. How quickly can you move?" the voice stated, its calm tone unwavering.

"Who are you?" I repeated not dropping out of my defensive stance. More details of the room were coming into focus. There were illumination sconces on the walls, bathing the place in a dim indirect glow. It was because of this glow that I noticed something which gave me a shock that had nothing to do with electricity.

I hadn't noticed in the rush of adrenaline which had propelled me to prepare myself for a fight, but now, in the indistinct light of the sconces, I saw my left arm, the burnt and blackened limb which I had assumed would never be used again, was restored, as if the flames had never touched it. The sight so startled me that for a moment I forgot all about my situation, all the aches and pains fading into nothing as I stared in wonder at my left arm. Experimentally, I flexed the fingers, and felt the familiar sensation of my own digits clenching in upon themselves.

"What the fuck…" I whispered in disbelief. The lights on the walls flickered, then brightened and I shouted in pain, covering my eyes.

"Agh! What the hell!?" I cried, crouching down as the light pierced my eyes before my hands shut it out.

"Stand by, I am adjusting your visual receptors." The voice said, and to my infinite horror and bafflement, I realized that it was not coming from anywhere in the room, but from _inside my head_. My vision seemed to waver and flicker, as though someone were adjusting dials on a TV set inside my skull. Slowly, the pain faded and I lowered my hands.

"What the hell is going on?" I muttered hoarsely to myself.

"There is little time to explain, but I will attempt to do my best." the voice in my head said, its calm demeanor unmoved by my reaction to my situation, "Your craft was damaged beyond repair by anti-aircraft fire shortly after you entered the atmosphere. My allies retrieved you before my enemy could and brought you to me. I repaired you, then augmented you to suit my needs by repurposing the defunct nanomachines in your bloodstream. My consciousness now exists inside you, distributed across a network of cybernetic implants and nanites."

"What?" I asked the empty air, "What the hell are you talking about? Where's Thoren!?"

"Your companion was killed in the impact. Your survival was an unexpected event…one that benefits both of us." the nameless thing in my head replied. I reached back to rub my head, which still ached mildly, and got my next shock. At the base of my skull there was something metal, a series of ridges like the shell of the horse-shoe crab I had once seen in a book about fossils. Immediately I flailed about with my arms, tracing the thing down my back with my fingers, discovering that it went from the base of my skull, where a large circular node was affixed, to the base of my pelvis. It was also at this point I realized I was all but naked save for a black set of tight 'boxers' that felt like no cloth I had ever heard of. Part of me wanted to try and rip the thing, whatever it was, off of me, out of me, but another part remembered the sound and the sensation of my impact against the rear hatch of the Jumper. If my back really had broken…

With that thought, the dam of memory burst, the frothy tip of the resulting tsunami consisting chiefly of the crash, mixed with the strange dreams that had come after. The tide of remembrance flooded back into my head like a sea of frozen mercury, swirling around the words the unidentified voice had provided and coalescing into terrible, awful realizations. The biggest was that Thoren was dead…and it was my fault. I wanted to fall on my knees and pound the floor in rage. Then I wanted to cry until my eyes bled. I had never lost a crew member, never. There had been a few close calls, but I had always brought my people home…until now.

I sank down and curled up, my hands against my face, teeth clenched, my back against the side of the table I had been laying on. I wanted to curse myself, strangle myself, beat my head against the wall until I bled, but the thought of Thoren's demise was quickly being pushed aside by the other realizations that were churning in my skull. The next horrifying gem of understanding to present itself for examination was that there was someone or some…thing inside me, It took a moment for the necessary references and connections to assemble themselves, allowing me to link this idea with the techno-babble that the voice had given me in lieu of an explanation. When I did though, the cold sensation of my new 'spine', or implant or whatever the damn thing growing from my back was, became somehow colder.

Replicators.

I had been infected with Replicators…or rather, someone (most likely the owner of the voice in my skull) had taken the inert cells of the nano-virus I had forbidden Elizabeth from using to heal me and altered them. It didn't really matter either way, because what it meant was that my body was suffused with machines so small they could kill me with impunity if they so desired, and this time, I had no means of generating an electro-magnetic pulse to shut them down.

"Your heartbeat is elevated. Signs suggest the onset of panic. Remain calm." instructed the voice, which I now knew really was coming from inside my head. Staying calm was the last thing on my mind though. Elizabeth had told me all about her experiences with nanotechnology. Replicators, the ones that looked human anyway, could 'interface' with an organic brain when they wanted. If this was essentially what had been done to me, then my veins, my nerves, my muscles, my fucking bones were all riddled with miniscule robots that would only show up on the most powerful of microscopes…and they were all being controlled by a single intelligence. Logic dictated that said intelligence was the owner of the voice currently telling me to calm down. It was a terrible sensation, not being able to trust my own body, like living in a nightmare where you know behind the dark door stands something with teeth and claws and a million eyes, but you find yourself opening it without thinking and all you can do is stand there and watch as the monster lunges out to eviscerate you.

I tried desperately to control my breathing and my terror, falling back on logic, even though I wasn't all that good at it. Logic said that if the master of the machines which had infiltrated my body wanted to kill me, then it (or he, or whatever the right pronoun was) would've already done so. All it would've needed to do was something simple, like block one of my arteries or sabotage my nervous system. Instead, it had repaired my arm and saved me from an existence spent in a wheelchair, or worse. This should've calmed me, but it didn't because more of the voice's words were passing through my filter of understanding and I specifically recalled that it had said 'cybernetic implants', as in plural. If that was right, then the metal centipede and socket in the back of my skull weren't the only things it had 'installed'. Slowly, I dropped my hands from my face, which was wet with tears

"You are experiencing emotional trauma. This is understandable, but unproductive. You must overcome your fears. My interface is not sophisticated enough to enable me to do it for you." my invisible, internal…whatever-he-was stated. I realized I was letting out wracking sobs, my chest heaving up and down as I tried to wrest control of my body from my grief and shame and anger. There was a hiss of pneumatics on the other side of the room, on the opposite side of the table I was still crouched against. I surged back into adrenaline overdrive on instinct, the incomprehensible nature of my situation and the alien nature of the environment only serving to propel me to further paranoia. There was more hissing and clanking, rhythmic, like footsteps. The image of some kind of robotic death machine coming to eliminate the 'organic experiment' immediately filled my mind.

Slowly, stealthily I tried to track the approach of the metal feet while at the same time trying to gauge how best to escape their owner. There was enough strange machinery to serve as cover on numerous sides and despite my aches and pains, I felt strangely nimble-

It was at this point that the footsteps halted and I heard a new sound, the hissing, clicking, complicated sound of a Cybertronian transforming.

"Now, before you decide to do anything stupid, I feel there's something I should point out." said an attractive feminine voice which sounded like it was coming through an incredibly subtle electronic filter. It didn't take an idiot at that point to realize there was no point in pretending. She knew I was there. With everything to lose, I lunged out from behind the table vaulted it and threw myself at the new arrival. Why I wasn't certain, but at that point I was working on animal fear.

It wasn't until ten seconds later, standing over the groaning frame of what had to be the smallest Cybertronian femme I'd ever seen, barely six and a half feet tall, that I realized that I had moved faster than I really should have. It took another five seconds to realize that I had just subdued a Cybertronian, a living machine that should've had me bent over the table with a gun to my head before I had gotten five feet.

"Slaaagggg…" groaned the femme, shaking her head, "what was that for!?"

"Please refrain from damaging your allies." the voice in my head said, as if it were requesting me not to tread mud on the carpet, "They are vital to you continued survival." I barely heard this, since I was busy staring at my trembling hands. The one that had hit my target had some light abrasions from the sharper parts of her frame, but as I watched, the tiny cuts were stitching themselves shut, sealing closed like a time-lapse show on high-speed. It was so horrifically fascinating that I almost missed the fact that my victim was trying to get up. Frantically I looked around for a weapon to threaten her with, and then noticed the color of her eyes.

Blue…

Blue like an Autobot…

What the hell? This situation was making less and less sense with every passing moment…

"You're an Autobot." I said dumbly, "What…what are you-"

"Doing here?" she finished, grunting and pulling herself up. She had a very aerodynamic frame, delicate yet powerful, possibly like an Olympic swimmer mixed with a jet-plane. Her face was also very, very human; smooth, yet complex enough to suggest she was capable of showing a wide variety of emotions.

"Yes." I said finally as she glared at me reproachfully, rubbing what I assumed what the place where I had punched her. Odd…that punch shouldn't have affected her. In fact, I should've broken my hand in about a dozen places just by trying it. What the hell had been done to me?

"Lucien called me to help calm you down. Obviously I see reassurances are not going to do the trick." she said dryly. I stared at her, not sure whether to laugh or glare.

"Yeah, well," I finally said, glowering at her, "I haven't had the best day."

"If you mean the day you crashed, that was two planetary days ago." the Autobot responded. She crossed her arms and glared back, while in my head my brain clawed at itself in horror. Two days!? Well that certainly explained the aches and pains…some of them anyway. A smidgen of my shock must've leaked into my expression because the fem-bot's own visage softened.

"You're disoriented." she said in a sympathetic-sounding tone, "That's to be expected."

"Why?" I asked suspiciously. She gave a sigh much like Elita had during our conversations, chiefly for effect rather than any need to breathe, and crossed her arms.

"Look, I don't know how much mister chatter-circuits in there has told you," she said, raising one forearm to point at my head, so there could be no doubt as to who she was referring to, "but suffice to say, I and my friends have been stuck on this world for a very, very long time."

"I know that this is part of some kind of prison." I admitted cautiously, "Are you one of the prisoners?"

"Technically? No. The real prisoners are kept on the larger moon." she said, pointing towards the ceiling, "Us down here? We were here before the prison was built, and we've been hiding here ever since. We were getting ready to make our escape when you and your ships showed up and set Lockdown on high alert."

"Okay, look, if you want things to make sense to me, you're going to have to give me some background to work with." I said in exasperation. She rolled her eyes, which made her seem more human than even Elita had.

"For starters, who are you?"

"My designation in your language is 'Songbird'. I'm a Minicon." I almost choked trying not to laugh. She gave me a sour look.

"Seriously, Minicon?" I asked, not doing a very good job of concealing my humor.

"It's a term applied to any Autobot or Decepticon of my height-class and function." she snapped. I wanted to explore the subject deeper, even though I knew it probably wasn't conducive to my current situation, but I didn't think offending my sole present companion besides the voice in my head would be a good for my health. Instead, I tried to think of something productive to talk about, preferably of a subject that would not leave me in giggles.

"Okay, right now, I'm not feeling very trusting. I've just woken up expecting my back to be broken and one of my arms to be a burnt twig. Don't get me wrong; I'm really happy they aren't, but I'm not sure I enjoy the part about being infested with nanites and having a voice in my head that doesn't belong to me. Now, I think we could change this if we exchanged information." I said, calmly, trying to sound reasonable and not be an ass. I stepped forwards so there were about four feet between us.

"Here's how it works:" I said, holding out my hands, "I tell you something about me, you tell me something about you." This earned me a smirk.

"Alright, I guess we could do that." she said.

"First of all, if you were on this planet before me…well, I've met your people, Autobots, before, and when I did, I had to send language files so we could understand each other. You weren't there for that though, so how come you speak my language?"

"Lucien downloaded it from the language center of your brain." she said, her smirk undiminished. My jaw dropped.

"You hacked my brain!?" I all-but-shouted.

"Yeah, which kind of makes this conversation pointless." she admitted apologetically, "I was just doing it to make you feel comfortable. If you want the whole truth, First Aid and I put you back together with Lucien's help, and when he…integrated with you, he shared what he learned from your language centers and neo-cortex. First Aid and I were the only ones that bothered with looking at anything beyond the language files." I stared at her, not sure if I should attack her again. She had just admitted to rummaging through my brain like a scrapbook. Nothing was making any sense. She strode towards me, her metal hips swaying, coming to stand two feet from me and prodding me in the chest with a finger.

"I know who you are, Lieutenant Ford. I know you're not native to this galaxy. I know you came here with a force of Autobots and rebel Decepticons, some of whom are my friends and I know that your ship is still in orbit. I know a lot of things that most of our race has forgotten or misremembered over the course of this eons-long war. I know the true history of your Ancients and most importantly, I know that right now, you need my…our help, probably even more than we need yours." I tried to rally myself, failed, tried again and succeeded somewhat, enough to make a retort.

"And why is that?" I asked, drawing myself up, refusing to be loomed over by any alien robot, even one as comparatively small as this one was. In response, she leaned down so her face was in mine.

"Because you're going to need help cleaning up your mess." she said.


	17. Chapter 16: War Stories

Chapter 16: War Stories

The next five minutes consisted of me getting a check-up both by the stunning metal beauty and whatever the voice in my head belonged too. For my part, I simply sat there on the metal table and let it happen. I didn't know what was going on, and the only one who seemed even remotely comprehensible or possessed of any answers was Songbird. Until another option presented itself, I figured it was wise to stick with her and let her do what she wanted, which chiefly consisted of prodding me with a variety of medical tools. It wasn't until she cut my palm with the edge of one finger that I felt that maybe I shouldn't trust her.

"What the hell!?" I swore, snatching my hand back so fast and with such force I almost flopped sideways on the table with overcompensation. The cut had clearly been made on purpose, but it was more like a minor scratch compared with some of the wounds I had received in my time. Songbird's only response was to roll her optics and grab my arm before I could hurt myself further.

"Watch." she commanded, moving he grip to the hand with the cut on it and opening my fingers. Confused, I looked at the injury...and then watched with awe as it began to knit itself closed. Songbird nodded in approval. I looked back her angrily. When she caught my gaze she shrugged.

"Don't be so squeamish. If I had an upgrade that let me do things like that I'd be impressed. The nanites in your system will allow you to heal at an accelerated rate. Combined with your other implants, I imagine at the rate they work you'll be safe from all sorts of ailments, including some injuries that might be considered fatal."

I continued to glare at her.

"I want a full explanation of what you did to me." I growled, "Now." Again she rolled her optics.

"Well I think you'd be better off asking Lucien for the details." she said, prodding my forehead in an almost playful manner, which just made me angrier. In my head, the flat, emotionless voice of the mysterious 'Lucien' began to speak.

"I took advantage of your unconscious state and damaged body to effect a number of alterations to your biology to make you more efficient, including vastly improving your reaction times and reflexes." he stated. Suddenly the speed with which I had moved when attacking Songbird made sense, as did the strength with which I had struck.

"I have improved your muscle density as well." Lucien commented, startling me further, until I realized that if he was in my head and could read my memories, he probably knew what I was thinking. The immediate next thought was the fear of being turned into some kind of cyber-zombie, a slave in my own body.

"You have nothing to fear from me." Lucien said in response to my reaction, "I have no interest in controlling you."

Of course, my next mental question was 'Why?'.

"You are a physically inferior vessel to the one I previously occupied. I do not intend to remain inside you any longer than necessary." the voice grumbled. I wasn't sure if I should be insulted or relieved. I wasn't sure of a lot of things. Suddenly another nasty thought occurred to me: What would happen to me if he left? If he was regulating my transformed body controlling the various machines he had installed, then I would probably die. Attached to this concern was a certain amount of additional anger at being 'modified' without my consent. It was like waking up after a surgery to find the doctor had taken the liberty to remove my appendix, only with a far deeper sense of violation.

"I have no part in regulating your body." growled my invisible passenger, "When I eventually depart, you will live a long and healthy life. As for the upgrades I have bestowed on you, making the changes while you were unaware was more expedient than having to first waste time convincing you they were necessary. I did only what I thought necessary to improve your chances of surviving the conflict you are about to be thrust into."

"And what's that?" I asked aloud, totally unmollified by my passenger's response, which had been more of a retort than any attempt at calming me. Songbird looked startled.

"What's what?" she asked. I looked at her, baffled. She seemed to realize what was happening though before I could say anything, causing her to sigh and cross her arms.

"I can't hear what you're thinking." she grumbled, "If you're going to have a mental conversation, keep it inside your head. There's no need to confuse me." I rolled my eyes back at her. Lucien was already speaking, apparently having ignored our exchange.

"Many millennia ago, a civil war erupted on the planet Cybertron over control of an artifact known as the Allspark." Lucien began. I grunted in annoyance. I knew all this, and I didn't need to hear it again. There was a pause as Lucien presumably read my mind, then readjusted his explanation.

"Four thousand years ago, the Cybertronian known as Shockwave initiated a schism within the ranks of the Decepticons. His formally declared goal was to end open hostilities with the Autobots and seek a solution to the sterility problem confronting his species. However, his true intent was the same as it had ever been." My eyes widened. Was this was new information?

"Shockwave may speak of higher ideals and overcoming the threat of extinction, but he is a Decepticon, in body and Spark. He is dedicated to the dreams of empire held by his leader, Megatron, and he continues to pursue those dreams even in Megatron's absence." I grunted again, this time with a little disappointment. I already knew this too. It was hard to read the message Shockwave had delivered on the bridge of the _Jhiaxus_ as being anything other than a declaration of plans to seize dominion of the Pegasus. Lucien's next words however, made me shut my mental mouth.

"Shockwave sought out the Pegasus because it is the perfect place to sow the seeds of an empire, provided one is patient. He had scouts moving far ahead of the breakaway force he commanded, and when they brought him detailed reports of the state of affairs in this galaxy, he was quick to choose it as his target."

I pondered these words carefully. I knew that Shockwave had been planning to solve the fertility issue. I also knew that he planned to turn Pegasus into his own personal empire, and rebuild his people's civilization atop the bones of anything that might prove to be a potential threat to his dominion. That he had been planning to get the second even while working on the first was news to me though. I began to get the feeling that Shockwave's plan was more complicated than I had first suspected.

"Shockwave has been plotting the downfall of the Wraith for over three-thousand years." Lucien said, "The moment he arrived in Pegasus, his earliest actions were to commission the creation of a new colony. As soon as it was established however he began to expand upon it, creating labs, shipyards, drone manufacturing plants and all manner of military installations. He placed himself in complete control of this new war machine, wiring every system to a central interface that he alone controlled."

From the admittedly limited knowledge I had about him, this sounded very like Shockwave. If he was plotting to drag his people into a fresh war of conquest, he'd want absolute control of the machines needed to make it happen, in case they needed to be redirected to quell protesters and dissidents. Still, it didn't all quite fit together. If they were sick of war, why had his followers allowed him to go about building this stuff? For that matter, how did it connect with his work aimed at thwarting his people's approaching extinction?

"Shockwave used the fear of pursuit by the forces still under the command of his opponent Starscream to convince his people that some measure of self-defense was necessary. There were numerous other reasons he provided, all logical and equally valid, but subtly exacerbated in the minds of his people via skewed presentation, just enough to convince them to give him the leniency he needed." Lucien answered, his tone as neutral as ever, "His ultimate plot was to use the solution to the sterility issue to gain the absolute trust and loyalty of those who chose to follow him, allowing him to build a new Cybertron in his own image."

I reeled at his words. I hadn't had a very high opinion of Shockwave until then, but the thought that he was callous enough to try and turn his people's desperate struggle to create a future to his own ends was so revolting and so infuriating that it made me want to vomit. The memory of Deadfall's sorrowful recounting of her experiments and how she had watched her hopes die with every failure filled my mind. That someone would try to turn her efforts to repeating the mistakes that had brought about that situation...

As I seethed at with the new knowledge of how vile my enemy was, Lucien continued to speak.

"However, Shockwave is a long-term planner." he continued, apparently ignoring my stream of hateful thoughts, "He will not stop at ruling one world, not when a galaxy, ripe for conquest, beckons. To this end, he plans to manipulate his people into war with the Wraith."

Over the next few minutes, Lucien laid down what he knew of Shockwave's plans, detail by detail. The power-hungry Cybertronian was determined to use his solution to the sterility problem to gain the trust of his followers, a composite group of Autobot prisoners released during his break from the main body of the Decepticon forces and ex-Decepticons who either felt he made a better leader than the inept Starscream, who was the sole alternative, or who were just tired of fighting. Once he had them convinced that he was their savior, the perfect leader for the time of crisis they faced, he would make his next move.

Vector Sigma, the planet he Shockwave resided on, was located in a high-radiation zone of the Pegasus, where Wraith ships feared to tread for fear of breaking down due to radiation sickness (which just goes to show that sometimes organic technology isn't all it's cracked up to be). By the he solved the riddle of the empty crib (or whatever Cybertronians had instead), Lucien estimated that he would've stripped all the resources from the zone to build his 'defense force', driving his followers with the need to look elsewhere for materials necessary for expansion. If he really wanted, Shockwave could use his Space Bridges to steal moons and small planetoids out from under the Wraith without them every knowing, taking them from systems where the vicious space-vampires never bothered to go. Instead though, he planned to clear the way for further expansion, far into the future, by provoking a confrontation with the Wraith. He wouldn't really need to do much anything, just show up somewhere they could see. The Wraith had a serious insecurity about their technological prowess, as they had repeatedly proven in the past by bombing any civilization advanced enough to pose a meaningful threat to them back to the Stone Age. The threat of advanced extragalactic robots would scare them shitless, not that they ever used the bathroom, and cause them to rally against the new perceived threat to their dominance.

This aggression, combined with the fact that the Wraith fed on other sentient life-forms, would convince even the most stoic Autobot amidst Shockwave's ranks to take up arms to eliminate the threat. Lucien didn't tell me how he intended to do this, but he did say that once the Wraith were subdued, Shockwave would find a way to deal with humanity as well. He didn't know how he'd do that either, but he knew it would happen. Shockwave was dedicated to the principles his old leader, Megatron had espoused, which included the elimination of weakness, from without and within. Compared with Cybertronians, the humans of Pegasus were frail little things…insects, as Shockwave had so contritely put it during his speech aboard the _Jhiaxus_. One way or another, he would find a way to wipe them out to, clearing the galaxy for eventual expansion once his new Cybertron was done reclaiming the glory of the old.

As I listened, I felt various emotions well up inside me; hatred for Shockwave and his plans, disgust at his callous manipulation of his followers, not to mention a little annoyance that he didn't have any real information on how Shockwave planned to beat the Wraith, something even the Ancients hadn't been able to do. Of course, the Ancients had proven themselves to be terrible at warfare, much less cleaning up after themselves, but that was beside the point. When he finished, I turned to Songbird, who was standing by patiently, giving me an expectant look.

"So how exactly does your being here have to do with Shockwave planning to conquer the galaxy?" I asked her.

"When Shockwave drew up his plans, he knew he needed to present a good public face to his people. To maintain the idea that he no longer believed in two sides to the war, he recruited scientists from both factions to 'help' him. He knew though that he had to make sure he was the one who produced the cure, and that ultimately the credit would go to him. So when one of his team, Deadfall, began getting better results than his agenda called for, he started sabotaging her work."

I gaped at Songbird. It was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that Shockwave was willing to use the sterility issue for his own selfish gain, but did he really care so little about playing with the fate of his race? Songbird continued, ignoring my shocked expression.

"When she eventually started to get suspicious, she went to a friend named Skyfire and got him to look into things. He went to Lucien, and eventually with his help, discovered just what Shockwave was up to."

"I'll bet he was pissed." I muttered. Songbird gave a morose chuckle.

"He was. Skyfire led a force of Autobots during the battle to take Metroplex, one of our largest population centers, sometime around the middle of the war. What he saw there made him refuse to fight for either side for a long time. He was among the first to join Shockwave's cause because he truly wanted peace, an end to the suffering. To know that Shockwave intended to bend the solutions to our problems to his ends, so he could simply repeat the mistakes of our past, infuriated him. He gathered together a force of former Autobots and Decepticons, those he believed he could trust, and formed a plan to topple Shockwave."

"How?" I asked, confused, "I mean, he had control of the entire military infrastructure, so how was he going to stop him?"

"By taking the credit for the solution away from him." Songbird answered, smirking, "He got Deadfall a place where she could continue her work in secret, a place where Shockwave couldn't sabotage her. She planned to finish the work herself and distribute it to everyone, so Shockwave couldn't harbor it as a means of control."

"I take it things didn't work out that way?" Songbird shook her head, her face returning to a grimace of emotional distress.

"Shockwave found out. We still don't know how, but he tracked down Deadfall and just before she could finish her work, he attacked, his loyalists capturing most of us and killing those who refused to surrender."

"And nobody knew? I mean, the rest of his followers must've caught wind of what he was doing…" I asked. Again, Songbird shook her head.

"Skyfire managed to elude capture. He went to Lucien, your new passenger to ask for help, since he was the only one with access to Shockwave's copy of the Lantean Database."

"Wait, wait, back up." I said quickly, fear suddenly sweeping through me, "Shockwave has a copy of the Ancient Database?"

"Not anymore." Songbird said, smiling viciously. I sagged a little in implications of that idea had been terrifying. The Ancients had accumulated a vast repository of scientific knowledge over their long existence. The idea of Shockwave wielding all that data was enough to send chills racing up my spine. Of course, my relief only lasted until Lucien spoke up, adding his own two cents exclusively to my thoughts.

"Shockwave only possesses a damaged, partial copy of the Database at present, if he still retains any of it at all. I removed most of it from his custody when I joined forces with Skyfire."

Gee, how wonderful. Now my enemy only had access to a small portion of a well of infinite knowledge and power. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"So what happened then?" I asked, trying to get things back on track, while hopping down off the table to pace about the room, hoping to work the cramp out of my legs.

"Lucien agreed to help us, since Skyfire explained that it was likely once he finished with the Wraith, Shockwave would try to eliminate humanity as potential future competition as well. Being a creation of your Ancestors, he's programmed to protect you, and he was also pretty angry that he'd been duped into helping Shockwave."

"Helping him how?" I asked. Before Songbird could say anything, my passenger spoke up and I held up a hand to prevent her from drowning him out. She gave me an annoyed look, but held her peace.

"Vector Sigma was once the site of a Lantean war-time think-tank, aimed at devising a scientific solution to the Wraith. You have seen the results of some of their work, including Project Arcturus and the Asurans."

I winced at the mention of the two names. Both had been things I had only heard about from Elizabeth, but they were no less impressive for the telling. Project Arcturus had essentially been an attempt to break the laws of physics and create infinite energy from nothing. It had been pretty successful, except for the fact that the result was totally uncontrollable. According to Elizabeth, when Rodney had tried to get the thing to work, he had blown up three-quarters of a solar system. As for the Asurans, it was enough to say that they were responsible for Elizabeth's transformation into an A.I. and my inherent fear of nanotechnology. I couldn't help but wonder what the Ancients had been thinking when they gave that army of T-1000 analogues the ability to understand free will while denying them it. You don't give a gun the ability to understand the universe, and then expect it to do whatever you say without protest…

"The concepts behind all their ideas were sound, even if they failed in application." Lucien said, managing not to sound defensive while, well, sounding defensive, "I was given to them to help manage their work and assist them in their endeavors, along with a copy of the Lantean Database, which was placed directly under my supervision. However, when the siege of Atlantis began, the base had to be closed down."

"And they left you behind?" I asked the air. Happily, Songbird seemed to understand I wasn't referring to her this time and just ignored the comment, crossing her arms and waiting with an impatient look.

"When the project was closed down, most of the personnel chose to leave, hoping to reach Atlantis before the Wraith managed to fully blockade the planet. The founders of the project, those who had dedicated themselves to stopping the Wraith, chose to remain behind, against the orders of the High Council. I stayed with them."

"So what, they stayed behind while everyone else ran back to the Milky Way?" It seemed easier to just ask the questions out loud, especially since it allowed me to believe on some level that I was just talking into a radio and not listening to a voice in my head. It was healthier for my sanity, irritated Autobots be damned.

"They spent the rest of their natural lives in the bunker beneath Vector Sigma. When they died, I was left alone, to carry on their work as I saw fit. When Shockwave found me, I had been in isolation for over six-thousand years." Lucien said. The flat monotone the information was delivered in made me want to shiver. It was like he was recounting events that had happened to someone else. I couldn't imagine how he had retained his sanity during that time. Could machines go insane? I was pretty sure Cybertronians could…

"So I take it Shockwave managed to convince you to help him when he found you?" I asked.

"He was quite persuasive." Lucien replied, "While I was initially resistant to sharing the knowledge of my makers with an unknown species, we eventually struck a bargain: In exchange for access to the Database, Shockwave agreed to provide me with access to his own prodigious knowledge, which included records from his long trans-galactic journey and his encounters with hundreds of previously unknown species and studies of their technology." I wanted to laugh at the irony of the idea. It was roughly the same thing I had tried with Songbird minutes before. Instead I straightened myself out and tried to find my way back to where we had been before this conversation fork had started.

"So you managed to get most of the Database away from Shockwave?" I inquired.

"Correct. Once his access was severed, he was left only with the knowledge I had provided him up until that point. I also sought to sabotage his control network, and while not entirely successful, I did manage to do enough damage to allow some of Skyfire's followers to escape. We joined together on a stolen vessel and escaped, planning to try and find a planet where we could hide and plan a counter-attack. Of course, Shockwave was less than pleased. The Lantean Database was part of what had brought him so far in his sterility research and without it he would be set back decades, possibly centuries, even with the extra progress he took from Deadfall's lab. He ordered his best tracker, Lockdown, to find us and bring us back."

"Wait, so what happened to the rest of his people?" I asked, "I mean, not everyone knew what Shockwave was planning. You were sort of a secret revolution…"

"We didn't share what we knew with anyone we weren't sure we could trust." Songbird said, "We don't know much about what's going on his territory, but we have been able to ascertain that as far as everyone else is concerned, Skyfire and everyone who followed him were killed by the Wraith."

"So they know about the Wraith now?"

"And have for some time." Songbird said solemnly, "We've been listening in where we can to transmissions between the _Jhiaxus_ and the prison on the moon where we can. Shockwave has managed to convince the general population that we were on an exploratory vessel, sent out to map the rest of this galaxy. He's also convinced them that we were destroyed by the Wraith in an unprovoked attack."

"So he's using that to scare them into going to war?" I asked, "What about the fertility problem? I mean, has he finished the work by now?"

"We're not sure. Lucien thinks he may have. The point is though that he's getting ready to move, which means that us getting off this planet as soon as possible is very important."

I nodded, mulling all the information over. When I felt ready, I spoke up again.

"Okay, let me just see if I've got this straight:" I said, looking at Songbird, "Shockwave planned to use the…let's call it the 'cure', to get everyone behind him so he could draw them into war with the Wraith, because he wants to clear the way for galactic domination once his new Cybertron is built." Songbird nodded as I spoke, confirming everything as I laid it out.

"But you managed to sabotage him, or at least slow him down. However, he's still got most of the people who followed him under his thumb, and most of those who joined Skyfire's revolution are prisoners on that prison moon."

"That's…simplistic, but close enough." Songbird said, looking up in thought.

I sighed.

"Great."


	18. Chapter 17: A Call to Arms

Chapter 17: A Call to Arms

When I felt I had enough of a grip on the information I had already received, I looked back at my new friend.

"So how do the _Jhiaxus_ and your being here play into all this?" I asked.

"Why don't we talk about that while you get dressed?" she offered, smiling. I looked down and realized that I was still, relatively speaking, almost naked. I looked back at her, trying not to blush.

"You've got my clothes?" I asked. Her smile widened.

"Those worn out synthetic and organic fibers you were wearing? They were practically destroyed when we pulled you out of the wreckage." She said, obviously trying not to giggle, "Don't worry though. We've got something that'll do a much better job of protecting you."

She gestured to the far side of the room, opposite the entrance she had come in by. Before I could speak, a whirring and clicking sound drew my attention to where she was pointing. In amazement, I watched as a circular depression in the floor, which was already carved with complex traceries of lines and interlocking circles, began to reconfigure. The disc of metal split, pulling open like a spike-toothed maw, and from beneath, a new platform arose, in the center of which were two large boot-like…things. They looked like hockey boots actually, but split open and disassembled, awaiting feet. I looked back at Songbird in suspicion. She rolled her optics and gestured again to the new machine.

"Place your feet in the slots. After that, just hold still."

"What is this?" I asked, taking a tentative step towards the boot-things.

"Armor assembly unit." she said, as if that explained everything. In my mind, a memory sluggishly drew itself to attention, causing me to grin.

"What, like Iron Man?" I asked. This earned me a confused look from my companion.

"You went through all my memories and you don't know who Iron Man is?" I asked mockingly. Songbird glared at me.

"Just step in."

"Yes, ma'am." I chuckled. It probably wasn't a wise move. For all I knew, this was just the warm-up before butchered me like a lamb, but again I reminded myself that if they wanted me dead, they need only have waited until I expired of hypothermia on the surface.

When I stepped into the boots, I noticed the interior felt somewhat soft and squishy. It was odd, but not as odd as when the double-circle in the floor around the boots split open and several thick rings rose up out of the ground, stacking against each other in hollow column around me, with more than enough space for me to spread out my arms inside and enough space between each ring for me to see out. At first I thought it was a ring-teleporter, like those the Ancients had used back in the Milky Way. Then, unfolding neatly from the inner surface of the new cell, the robot arms came, moving on twisting, whirring joints, their tips affixed with what looked like power tools. A brief sensation of fear overcame me, before my attention was drawn upward by a fresh bout of whirring and clanking. Above, the ceiling split open to unveil a mass of more arms, these ones holding bits of machinery I couldn't identify. Before I could look again, I was distracted yet again, this time by a feeling of something cool and soft being drawn up my legs.

I looked down to see the arms affixed to the rings were…well they were sewing something up around me…or at least that was what it looked like. It was black, with the visual texture of plastic, and as it rose higher, merging with the strange boxers I had been wearing up until now, it became apparent that it was a some kind of under-suit, decorated with lines with minimalistic lines like circuits on a motherboard which were laced with dots and small discs, possibly nodes for connection to the armor that was coming. It didn't take long before I was engulfed up to the neck in a sleek, form-fitting garment, which in truth was more like a wet-suit, covering everything, beneath the neck, including my feet (the feeling of pins and needles as the machines a had reached into the boots and put the suit together around my feet like gloves was one I would not soon forget). I looked down in admiration at my new 'clothes'.

"Nice…" I commented, turning my hands and stretching out my arms, the material, whatever it was, feeling like a second skin.

"Hold still." Songbird warned, all but invisible through the small gaps between the rings. As she spoke, the machinery began to speed up. The 'boots' snapped closed, changing shape until they actually looked like boots, big and heavy ones too. Thick leg-guards followed, the arms assembling them around my lower limbs and working their way up. The whole process took about two minutes, tops, the mechanized limbs moving with remarkable speed until at last I was once again coated up to the neck in my new suit. As they finished their work, the arms, retracted, sliding neatly back into the rings or the ceiling. The last set lowered down slowly, affixing something to my neck-guard, before returning to their original positions.

"Wait a second," I realized looking down at the suit, "Where's the helmet?"

"Remain calm." Lucien said in my skull, "I am interfacing with the suit. This will allow me to communicate properly again." Before I could understand what was happening, I felt the pinch of a needle, or what felt like a need, at every site on the under suit that had been marked with a disc or node. I wanted to grind my teeth at the fresh violation, but held my peace. Without warning, the suit came alive, the almost inaudible whine of systems coming online catching my ear as lights flicked on here and there. With a hiss, the rings returned whence they had come, the ceiling sliding closed above. Experimentally, I took a step forward.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I tried to figure out how I had gotten there before I heard Lucien over the ringing in my head.

"Stand by. I am disabling all extraneous systems beyond basic movement." he said, and I realized his voice was coming from the suit, not just in my thoughts.

"Good idea." Songbird said, "Don't want him accidentally splattering against the ceiling if he tries to jump." I growled in frustration. When I tried to move again, the suit seemed to resist, as if I were swimming in mud. As I pushed harder though, it seemed to become easier, like it was attuning itself to my natural movements.

"Not that I'm not grateful for the new clothes," I grumbled, "but why do I need this?"

"Do you seriously expect to survive a fight with one of my people without help, even with your cybernetics?" Songbird asked, appearing in my vision. She offered me a hand. I reached out and took it hesitantly. She drew me up and set me on my feet, patting down the suit as if searching for weapons. When she finished, she stood and smiled.

"Well, it seems everything's in working order. I have to admit, I wasn't sure how well this would turn out. I mean, First Aid was the one who did most of the medical work on putting you back together, but it was Lucien who wanted to turn you into a super-soldier."

"And you just let him?" I asked irritably. She shrugged.

"He had a fair point. If you stepped out onto the surface in the clothes you were wearing before, you'd be dead in ten hours from one thing or another. Besides, if you plan to get off this planet, you're going to need to pull your weight."

"All I did was crash here." I protested. This earned me a fresh glare.

"You recall how I mentioned Shockwave sent Lockdown after us?" she growled, and I got the feeling that I might've annoyed her.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Well he tracked us down, right here in this system in fact. Then he shot us down."

"Why didn't he catch you then?" I asked.

"Because we managed to hide in these old lava tubes while one of us went back and set off the manual self-destruct." she said, gesturing to the room and probably everything around it, "He sacrificed himself so Lockdown would think we were dead."

"So you trapped yourselves here?"

"No!" she snarled, "We have Constructicons down here! They were literally born to build! There's nothing they can't make given enough time. We thought that once Lockdown went away, we could build a new ship and take off again. It would take time, but by that point we'd have time!"

"But he didn't leave." Songbird's optics sank and I got the feeling she was seething with anger.

"No. No he didn't. Instead Shockwave decided this was the perfect place to hold those of us he still had in his custody." she ground out, then flicked her head skywards.

"So he built the prison on the moon?"

"Yes." she growled, "The perfect prison camp. There's only one way in, and its via Planetary-Bridge, specifically from this world to the moon itself. Anything else that tries gets torn apart by the mines or the moon's defenses." Then she closed her eyes and let out a sigh of anger.

"And to top it all off, he put Lockdown in charge of it all." she growled. Suddenly she was up in my face, finger pressing into my chest-plate.

"You," she growled, "have no idea how long we waited, waiting until we thought it might be safe to escape. We've had a ship ready for centuries now, but we couldn't leave until we had enough proof to think that Lockdown had let down his guard. Last week he did. We were about to leave, when you come down here with your friends and set him on high alert!"

I winced. Suddenly the full meaning of 'cleaning up my mess' came home to me. I wanted to apologize, but how do you apologize for a screw up as big as that?

"So now what?"

"Now what?" she said, and gave a hollow laugh, "Those of your friends who weren't blown apart by the planetary defenses will be in Lockdown's fortress by now. If I know him, and believe me, I do, he'll be torturing for information on where they came from. Once he finds your ship, he'll override the mines and carpet the rings around the other moon until he's destroyed it. Then he'll come out here and start looking for you. He's already found your crash site, and he knows there were two of you in that ship."

She wrenched me closer, and in my surprise, I let her.

"So now?" she hissed, metal lips pulling back from teeth like polished steel, "Now you fight by us, or die with us." She released her grip and scowled at me. I gave her an apologetic look, or at least a look I thought was apologetic. Her face softened and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have done that. It's not your fault. You had no way of knowing." She stepped backwards and sat down on the table in the center of the room, then put her hands over her face.

"I'm sorry too." I said. It was all I could think of to say, and in my ears, it sounded hollow. How do you apologize for trapping someone in a dangerous situation they'd been ready to escape? I decided my only hope of true forgiveness was to help fix what I'd done. I hadn't looked closely at it, but now I did. The only thing I could compare it to was…well, actually there was nothing I could really compare it to. It was sci-fi, that was for sure. Most of it was streamlined, with lots of curves and not many sharp angles. The thighs were maybe the bulkiest part, though they were almost eclipsed by the boots, which looked tough enough to kick holes in concrete. The most notable thing about it was the short tabard, almost like the flaps of a coat that draped down the back. The whole suit was silver and black, along with a fair amount of gray. There were little white and red lights here and there on it too. It was impressive, but I knew why it was there: to keep me alive. I had been told as much. I remembered the brief fight I had seen on New Athos between Autobots and Decepticons.

In the somber silence, Lucien spoke up, his voice emerging from some hidden speaker on my suit.

"We are short on time. My sensor-net is detecting energy surges from the exclusion zone around Lockdown's fortress." he declared. Songbird took her hands away from her face and looked over at me.

"What's the plan I asked, directing my question more to Lucien than Songbird. It was Lucien who answered.

"At present, there is no true plan. Lockdown's defenses are too powerful for us to face directly. Our ship is concealed in an underground hangar beneath an extinct caldera not far from here. He launched probes to scour the landscape for human life-signs yesterday. If my estimates are correct, he will find us in five hours. When he does, he will deploy everything he has to try and capture us."

At that moment the room shook a little. I looked over at Songbird worriedly. She frowned.

"Is that supposed to happen?"

"No." she answered, looking upwards with a suspicious gaze.

"How many people are down here with us?" I asked.

"Twenty-three, not including you and me." The room shook again. Suddenly her face softened again and she rolled her optics. She hopped down off the table and moved for the door, beckoning me to follow.

"Well if we're all going to die in five hours, you should at least meet everyone." she quipped.

"Uh, what's with the shaking?" I asked, my worry growing.

"That's Grimlock. I'm betting he's in another mood."

"Who's Grimlock?" In response to this question, she turned to face me.

"Why don't you come and find out?" I looked around the room. There was nothing there that would help me get off this planet faster. Besides, like Songbird had said, if I was going to die in five hours, it would at least pay to know who I was fighting with. I shrugged.

"Alright," I grunted, "lead on."

The space outside the 'medical chamber' (or whatever it was) was a vast, curved tunnel that had been decorated as what I had come to think of as the hallmarks of Cybertronian design, a sort of techno-organic industrial theme that made me think of the works of H.R. Giger, but with zero implied eroticism. There were large sweeping curved struts that concealed bundles of heavy piping and ductwork, turning the corridor into something like the throat of some enormous mechanical monster. There was very little lighting too, which made sense if you had glowing eyes…or maybe not. It occurred to me again that these beings I had met such a short time ago were so incredibly alien in almost every possible way, so divorced from everything I had ever experienced, yet somehow they managed to be familiar, to come across as more than gears and wires and circuits.

Once the door had sealed behind us, Songbird took a right turn and headed down the hall. I trailed behind, feeling superfluous and unsettled. The second feeling grew as we drew closer to the source of the repeated thumps that traveled along the structure of the corridor. Eventually I began to hear a distant roaring, mixed with shouting in what I immediately recognized as the native Cybertronian language, though with actual words instead of what sounded like a fax machine being tortured to death.

"So are there any major faces I should know?" I asked, drawing level with Songbird as we strode along. The armor, which had long since ceased to burden my movements and now complimented my mobility like a second skin, made my footsteps sound heavier than usual, which made sense I supposed. It also made me feel a bit taller than before. I was still a little surprised at how well I was dealing with my new situation, but again only a little.

Back on Earth, when I had been young, my first pet had been the family dog a big black Labrador named Thomas. He'd been with my Grandpa since before I was born, and he took all my abuse and love in stride. One of my first clear memories was of running about in a field not far from our house, letting him chase around after me. He was a tough old dog, but as he got older, he got slower, and slept more, like any dog would. And then one night he'd come in and flopped down next to a heating vent and begun panting rapidly. My Grandma had said we would be lucky if he made it through the night. Of course I had burst into tears and sworn to stand vigil with my favorite dog, my best friend, letting him sit his head on my lap.

For the first few hours I had held up, but after hour seven, even though I hated myself for admitting it, I was bored. It was an event that taught me that humans only have a limited capacity for emotional reaction. The longer a trauma drags on, the less effect it has on us. Right now, I was bearing the brunt of so many emotional traumas that I suspected my brainstem was started to liquefy a little, and it was having the same effect. There was just too much to truly react to. So I tried to act normal, all the while feeling an endless train of baggage, issues I'd have to come to terms with or react to properly at some point in the near future, dragging behind me like lead weights. I decided more questions might help distract myself from any potentially dangerous feelings.

"Skyfire is our leader. He's a Seeker, an aero-form."

"What's with these classifications?" I asked, letting another question in the infinite queue backed up in my brain out onto my tongue, "I mean, you're a Minicon, you said something about Constructicons…"

"The names are reflective of our characteristics. You know that the Primes created us like your 'Ancients' created you?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Well when they first made us, they instituted a sort of…'genetic caste system' is the best term I suppose. We were supposed to help them take care of the Allspark and the planet, though it eventually evolved from that into a full-blown civilization. Our different forms are a relic of that early time, when we were made to match our intended functions, sort of a bodily specialization. Minicons like me get into the small places and fix things the others couldn't. Constructicons build things, and not just in terms of manual labor. They're master architects. Some of the greatest wonders of old Cybertron were made by Constructicons."

"And Seekers?" I asked.

"Seekers have the power of flight. It's not a trait that's unique to them, but their job was to find stars that could be used to fuel the Allspark, which was our primary means of producing Energon, which was and is integral to most of our technology."

"So he, what, found stars and…" I asked, trailing off, not sure what to say. Actually, how did you feed a star to giant metal cube? I looked at her questioningly.

"I don't pretend to understand it." she answered, "Actually harvesting stars was for the Primes. I've got no clue as to the details."

"Ah." I said lamely. Her smile came back and made me feel a little better, because it was a real smile, not a gloomy one like many she had had before.

"If you're looking for an encyclopedia on how to understand us, you'd best keep looking. I'm not exactly an authority on all things Cybertronian. In fact I doubt there's anyone left who is." As she said the last part, her smile became gloomy again. I wished I could cheer her up, but how do you do that when you're feeling pretty damn gloomy yourself?

"Skyfire isn't an original Seeker, he's a descendant. He was born just before the collapse of the Dynasty, so he's among the oldest of us left alive."

"Anyone else?" This made her put a metal finger to her lips and look up in thought.

"My crew, Slash, Crash, Lucky and Wind Dancer…" she said, listing off the names casually, "Crash is our engineer. She's been making things for you under orders from Lucien. Actually she spends a lot of time our resident Constructicons, Hook and Mez. The three of them built the hull for our escape ship." I counted in my head.

"That's eight including, Grimlock, who you haven't explained, and not counting you." I said. She smirked.

"I can't explain Grimlock. I doubt anyone can." she sniggered. Another boom shook the halls around us and distantly I thought I heard a massive mechanical roar, like some enormous metal animal expressing its displeasure. If I had been forced to describe it, I would've said it sounded like Godzilla, specifically the old one, whose shrieks of rage always had a touch of electric guitar chord in them.

"That him?" I asked, trying to stay calm and not wet myself.

"Yep." Songbird said, smirking, "A lot of the Dinobots are like that."

"Wait, Dinobots?" I asked, humor threatening to overwhelm my terror.

"That's not precisely a technical term." she admitted, "To a cyberbiologist, they'd be Predacons, but Lucien was kind enough to inform us that Grimlock and his crew bear a heavy resemblance to some of the massive reptiles that he claims once dominated your homeworld's biosphere. Eventually Slash called one of them a Dinobot, and ever since then, the name has stuck."

"So why's he so angry?" I asked. The corridor shook again and another distant roar emerged.

"Shockwave experimented on him during the time we were held prisoner, when it looked like the revolution would fail." she explained, "During that time he reformatted Grimlock's body, directing most of his energy reserves into boosting his physical strength while subtracting power from his processors."

"Wait, so he essentially made him big and dumb?"

"I really wouldn't say that out loud." she cautioned me, "He's touchy about it. He wasn't a genius to begin with, but he wasn't a lumbering oaf either. Now he's cursed with remembering how smart he was while barely having enough power to supply his lingual systems."

"I realize this is probably really stupid, but can't you just fix him?" I asked. She glowered at me.

"Yes, it is and no, we can't." she grunted, "We're not simple machines. Sure, we can replace parts and repair ourselves easier than you can, but Shockwave has taken science to a level even our best people can hardly understand. I once heard a rumor that he's created a form of Insecticon-Constructicon hybrid drones to serve him. That level of control in the manufacturing process is supposed to be impossible, but he's done it. Every year we've stayed here, Lucien has grown more and more desperate to get away, since he knows the longer we stayed here, the more time Shockwave had to hybridize our technology with what he learned from the Ancient Database." There was a long silence as we continued to walk, letting that unhappy fact sink in.

"So where exactly are we going right now?" I eventually asked.

"As I said earlier, Skyfire has been trying to salvage things non-stop since you came down. He said he might have a solution when I last checked in."

"It is vital then that I reestablish contact with Skyfire." Lucien said, interjecting himself into our conversation.

"Don't get your wires in a twist." the Autobot responded, "He said he wasn't planning to make a move until you showed up to provide technical support."

"Good."

The journey finally ended when we reached a T-junction, where Songbird took another left and brought me to a heavy and immovable-looking door, easily the size and circumference of an airport's fuel silo. She approached it and then did something with a part of the heavy portal's mechanisms, manipulating a part of it that was at about her height. Then with a heavy clank, the massive, round gate of bronze-colored metal split apart and retracted into the tunnel walls, revealing an enormous room occupied by a lone Cybertronian standing before a table about the same width as the now-retracted door. As the door at last finished moving aside, he glanced up from the table, atop which a glowing grid of hexagons was traced, staring at us with sharp blue optics.

Out of the many members of the species of alien robots I had so far encountered, this new one was among the biggest, easily equal in height to Elita One. His frame was black and jagged like hers, signifying he was capable of flight, like Deadfall. As his gaze fell on me, I got the sense that I was being weighed up. His eyes weren't just taking in my presence. They were analyzing me, armor and all.

"I am pleased to announce my efforts were successful." proclaimed Lucien from my suit's speakers. The big dark Autobot nodded approvingly.

"So I see…" he said, still examining me from across the enormous table.

"I have integrated myself with the subject's bio-systems and armor." Lucien continued, "Once Crash has completed work on the various associated projects, particularly the battle-frame, I will be able to join you on the battlefield."

"Have you asked your new…host his opinion on the matter?" Skyfire inquired pointedly. His eyes had narrowed during the speech, as if he disapproved of the idea of what Lucien had done.

"As I stated before, all my efforts have been aimed towards humanity's continued survival, either directly or indirectly. My fusion with the host was a necessary sacrifice, one we both must endure if we are to leave this planet alive, as I have explained to him."

"I'm not thanking him for it. But given what he's been telling me, I'm beginning to think I might need an edge in any case." I cut in, causing the giant's attention to shift to me directly, his optics staring into my face. I refused to be phased by the shift in focus, plunging on.

"I'm assuming you're Skyfire?" I asked, "I've heard a lot about you."

"And I about you, Lieutenant Ford." he answered, "I apologize for the…discomfort you may have so far experienced in our care, but it was necessary, for our survival and yours." I gave him a look that I hope communicated that he wasn't entirely forgiven (especially for rifling through my memories) but that we also had bigger fish to fry. Instead of responding directly to the statement, I skimmed over it. Even under the apathy that the prolonging of my situation had brought, I still felt too volatile to try and openly discuss things. To avoid this, I focused on the immediate issue.

"Songbird said you had a plan to get us out of here?"

"Yes, though its success is far from certain. Especially given what we face…" he replied.

"And what is it we face?" I asked. At this, Skyfire leaned back, his dark frame groaning as he shifted around the table, placing huge, pointed metal fingers atop the hexagons that tessellated its surface. As they lit up, a hologram began to form over the surface, a huge construct of light made from hundreds of lines. It wasn't like the vision of the Allspark Elita had shown me back in the forest on New Athos. It wasn't like the few Ancient holographic systems I had seen either. This was like something being drawn onto a blueprint, with dozens of little segmented shapes coming together to form a larger whole When it was complete, a skin of colors and textures flickered into existence over it, bringing it fully to life.

"Oh frag me…" I heard Songbird mutter in shock.

"Ok…" I said, staring at the enormous object that now hovered over the table, "Is that a ship?"

The object, now realized fully in light and color by the table's projectors, resembled nothing so much as a flying crown…or perhaps a starfish, with all its legs curled partially in on itself. The hull was of the same brass-bronze metal that most Cybertronian technology seemed to feature in its design. Its central, pentagonal body supported five enormous vertical towers at the corners. One side had a concave bend to it, with a large green light set between the towers. Directly opposite it, revealed as the image rotated in place, a set of huge engines straddled the tower that rose behind the light,

"When you crashed two days ago, the Cybertronians flying with you were either shot down or captured. Lockdown's forces are composed chiefly of drones and a few other Decepticons, who help him maintain the perimeter around his fortress, which guards the sole means of entering the prison moon. They are all well equipped for their work. Your friends never stood a chance. We couldn't help them either. They went down too close to Lockdown's territory for us to reach them in time, even if we had been willing to risk exposure." Skyfire stated, causing my gaze to snap back to him, "We detected no transit from the fortress to the moon, so I assume they are still there, acting as his playthings before he sends them for incarceration."

Now he leaned forward, pressing his hands to the table, head bowed.

"He doubled security measures after their capture, launching more of his drones to recover the bodies of those who did not survive. That was how he found your craft." he said, raising his head and looking right at me again. Then he gestured to the enormous object above the table again.

"Three hours ago, he launched the _Knight's Terminus_…and if my predictions are correct, it will discover our existence in another five hours. Then it will come here and lay siege to us. Rest assured, that siege won't last long."

"Then why don't you leave now?" I asked. Skyfire's eyes narrowed.

"I mean, I was told you had a ship…" I said defensively, "Couldn't you launch now before he could stop you?"

"It's not that simple-", Skyfire began. I held up my hand to show there was no need to continue. I was already in a state of information overload. I wanted to sit down, but could find no seats amidst the enormously scaled-up equipment filling the room.

"Do you have a plan right now?" I asked. Skyfire's face seemed to sag a little, like an old man's face lined with years, an exhausted expression that told me everything.

"There are some…possibilities. But right now? No." the enormous Autobot said.

"So, the enemy has the high ground, he has superior forces, superior technology, overwhelming numbers…and a ship. Oh, and he has hostages. Am I missing anything?" I asked glumly.

"I will not concede defeat." Skyfire said calmly, "Nor will I surrender. I will not turn myself over to that butcher and his master."

My mind spun. There was too much data, too much to absorb…what should I do? What could I do? In the face of such overwhelming odds…

Well…I could always wing it…


	19. An Announcement and a Poll

Bad news folks: I've been away for a while, and having finally returned to this story, I've decided it could do with a reboot. 'Why?' you ask? Because there's too many contrived story bits, too many extraneous characters and the protagonist starts off on too good a footing.

So starting as of now, TLB will be rebooted. However, I have a query for my...12 fans. Do you think the present prologue should stay or go? How could it be improved? Please tell me by leaving a review.


End file.
